Bury Me Before You Go is the first installment of the new Pandemonium series by LC Lehesaho. This series takes place in the same world as her Beast of Prey series and has some slight crossover with characters, but brings a whole new element to the city of Preston.
Cierra's father has just passed away while in the midst of a mayorial run, and she is reluctantly in town for the funeral. Before she is able to escape across the country to her current home in Atlanta, her mother announces she is taking over running for mayor of Preston and Cierra is obligated to stay in town for awhile to play the doting, grieving daughter. Cierra's childhood was very tumultuous, and she has found it easier to not let too many people into her inner circle outside of a select handful. That all starts to change when she meets the mysterious and mercurial Quentin.
Quentin is a depressed, anxious, and insecure young man, and as we soon find, a reluctant part of the Order of the Six, a centuries old group of six very powerful families. Quentin has had his own share of childhood trauma, and he's just trying to make it from one day to the next without getting offed. Quentin is under a lot of pressure from his father to get himself together mentally to participate in yearly activities for the Order, and it is proving rather difficult for Quentin when he arrives home after the first part of the festivities to find his fiancée missing. He has a month to find himself another girl for the next ceremony. Enter Cierra.
Cierra and Quentin's relationship begins with a lot of secret agendas on both sides, but I enjoyed how LC was able to naturally grow their interest in one another within a short timeline. There was a really good twist in the story that I was honestly surprised about, so that was great to see develop. I'm not a fan of twists that are easily figured out. The character development overall was organic, and I really enjoyed seeing Quentin and Tiger interacting. I hope we get to see more crossover with these two series as things go along.
Character development: 5/5
Dark elements: 5/5
Steamy scenes: 5/5
Overall storyline: 5/5
Triggers: Yes, indeed - murder, abuse (including of minors), noncon, blood play, mental health struggles
