If you read Rage, the first book in Nia Myst’s Wildcats series, and wondered whether book two could keep up that same unhinged energy, the answer is yes. Burn is just as entertaining, and honestly, might be even more fun.

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐

What Burn Is About

Burn is the second book in the Wildcats series, a dark romance world built around a group of women-turned-vigilantes — besties who’ve decided to take justice into their own hands for women the legal system failed. This installment focuses on two characters: Tara, aka Shadow Panther, and Knox.

Tara is the Wildcats’ resident hacker and dog mom. She’s also an acid attack survivor, and the book doesn’t shy away from showing both the physical scars and the emotional weight she carries from it.

Knox is a diagnosed psychopath and a police lieutenant who’s found ways to manage his compulsions — mostly through his love of a good hunt and a good challenge. When he can’t catch the vigilante operating in his city, he goes looking for answers himself. What he finds instead is a beautiful, strong, and dangerously skilled woman, and from that moment, he’s hooked. She becomes his one and only target.

Tara, for her part, runs into Knox mid-pursuit of her own target and decides she needs to learn everything about him, too.

Stalker x Stalker, Enemies to Lovers

And then the chase begins — for real. He follows her, she follows him. He acts on impulse, she acts on impulse. He breaks into her apartment, but instead of arresting her, he cleans it and cooks her food. She breaks into his apartment and plays around with his police uniform.

Eventually, since they’re both chasing the same goal through very different methods, they join forces.

This is the “stalker x stalker” dynamic done with intention; it’s unsettling, but in a way that feels purposeful rather than accidental. If you’re a fan of enemies-to-lovers dark romance with a lot of obsession and very little self-control, this book delivers.

Tara’s Character Growth

One of the strongest parts of Burn is watching Tara come into herself. Under Knox’s attention, dedication, and complete infatuation, she slowly starts opening up — not just to him, but to the rest of the Wildcats too. The voice in her head, the one shaped by trauma, gets quieter as the book goes on, letting her rediscover who she is without shame or guilt attached to it.

Knox, obsessive as he is, genuinely cares for her and constantly reminds her how beautiful, valuable, and magnificent she is, until she starts believing it herself and starts seeing herself the way he and the rest of the Wildcats do.

The Wildcats Series Continues

Burn also picks back up the Russian kidnapping storyline introduced in book one, with plenty of action and just enough of a preview into future plotlines to leave you needing the next book immediately.

Nia Myst does a great job dropping hints ahead of time about what this book was going to be, so I knew exactly what I was walking into, and I gladly walked in anyway. It delivers the same unhinged energy as Rage, plus a lot more backstory for both Tara and Knox. Dom is still devoted to Samaira and the Wildcats. We meet new characters, and the Wildcats’ family keeps growing. (Also: is Shadow starting to accept men without treats? You’ll have to read it to find out.)

Final Thoughts

What really makes Burn work is that Nia Myst doesn’t try to make Tara or Knox perfect. Their flaws are fully on display the entire time, and that honesty is what sells the romance. The “cop” angle also gives the vigilante storyline an odd sense of legality that makes it feel a little safer for the women involved, though I spent part of the book waiting for the other shoe to drop. Call me a pessimist.

If you loved Rage and want more Wildcats chaos, more Tara and Knox, and more dark, obsessive romance, Burn is absolutely worth the read.

Thanks to the author and Swipe the Book PR for the advance copy of Burn in exchange for an honest review.