aislinghelen's Reviews (1.01k)

I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I liked this one, but it did kind of feel like something was missing. Cora and Nolan are both twisted “mutual monsters”. They have this weird feeling (or lack of) that ties them together. Nolan is likes to kill, and when he final finishes his plan for a person, Cora knows and things move from there. It’s got hot spicy scenes and of course murder. 

I loved the writing and the plot was fun. Kind of reminds me of Unsettled by Halle. It’s a thriller/horror/erotica.

Overall, it’s very different from the masked men/order of the unseen series but I still enjoyed it.

I think this might be the only book where I enjoyed some miscommunication. It was hot and I really liked the characters. Definitely a book for people who enjoy exhibitionism and orgys

I enjoyed this one. It’s definitely a rom com enemies to lovers vibe. The start is a little slow and I was screaming at them at points but it ended up really good. I think my criticism of it boils down to you can tell this was a first book but that’s not really a negative. I liked the couple, and the spice was great. Side characters were fantastic. I can’t wait to read the next one.

It was going to be 4 but the last little bit really annoyed me (miscommunication). The ending was good and I really enjoyed most of it, other than the slight bit of miscommunication it was a little stiff at points but mostly really great.

The spice was great, loved the dirty talk.

I wish there was more resolved about his mom. It felt unanswered by the end.

I received this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this, there was a few things that made it fall slightly short for me but overall it was good and I will read the next book. If you haven’t read her previous series, [book:Blackwood Institute: The Complete Trilogy|112974346] [book:Corpse Roads|62900560] don’t worry. This is set in the same world and I think the next book will have some previous characters showing up, but you can still understand and enjoy the book without reading the others. CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS FIRST 

The positive:
I really like her daughter Arianna and the relationship she had with the guys. The guys were really nice and I liked the relationship they had with each other and with Willow. Willow has PTSD from her past (childhood, marriage etc. check TWs) and I think, for the most part, this was handled really well. Zach is definitely my favourite guy but the other two aren’t far behind. The ending was good, a little predictable, but I was glad that it wasn’t a really big cliffhanger.

I really like a lot of the side characters, Ryder, Albie, Lola, Aalia and her son Johan. I loved that Arianna was able to make a friend and the whole town supported each other so much. Over all, it was good and while I would have enjoyed it with slightly less twistiness and drama, it was enjoyable. I would recommend reading her previous books first, not only so you have the background of the world but also because this one is quite dark and the others will bring you into the writing style and trauma levels.

My issues with the book are mostly how the trauma was handled and felt both overdone and ignored at the same time. If you want more details they are below but please be aware this is based on my opinion and experiences and is not said to invalidate anyone else. 

The negative:
Willow has a lot of trauma and her PTSD is very prevalent in the book, but I felt that it wasn’t written well at points.

She was sold into marriage at 16 and raped for years by her husband.

When she has a panic attack or similar, a lot of the time it is pretty bad and then a few seconds later she seems way too ok

she goes from flashbacks of being raped to fucking one of her guys, or yelling about her issues to attacking like nothing happened (I deal with my trauma by ignoring it too but the way this was written is what bothered me.)

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I also found it slightly annoying how the guys, especially Killian, reacted to her panicking at points, by getting annoyed she would tell them everything or yelling. I will also say that I found her a bit annoying, she handles everything like a 16 year old, which makes sense, but it got on my nerves.

Micah was a good character but I didn’t particularly like how his trauma was handled either. He had been quiet for years (10+) and never let anyone into his space or his studio. He had tried therapy and many other things. As soon as he meets her, however, he is magically so much better. Her and her daughter are allowed in the studio and he talks to them. It just felt odd.

A lot of insecurity trope with her. For the first half of the book every character pretty much sucked, except him and maybe her cousin. It was really everyone against them, including her. The second half was better and pretty much everyone got better but I don’t know if it’s enough to redeem all of them. 

She was completely unwilling to compromise and let her insecurities completely run their relationship. I also don’t know how tf she expected to take care of a child when she was constantly working and unable to say no to her boss. He also had issues but was willing to do anything and try his best to make it work so I can’t really be mad. She improved but still annoyed me. A lot.

Also at the start his POV mentions losing his wife and daughter but later its only his wife, did I miss something or was that just a mistake??

This was long but I loved it. You should definitely read the two novellas before this one or you might be a little lost. I love Rooke, she’s a badass. Soren, like all of J Bree’s MMCs, is a bit awful but gets better towards the end and will hopefully be amazing in the next few books.

He is kind of stupid though, he continuously expects the worst, gets proven wrong but still ignores everything to decide she is evil and awful. He seemed to realise his mistake by the end but I’m kind of worried she’ll write him like Nox, and he won’t improve until something extreme happens even after this.

I loved the world, and really hope we get more series from it.