Forgiven (Forlorn, #3) by Gina Detwiler Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of Forlorn and Forsaken on my blog, now!

This is starting to become a personal form of torture... I simply need to stop reading these books but I am in too deep and have to see it to the very end. After the lackluster events of the second installment, my hopes were even lower going into this book - the writing unfortunately shows no signs of improving and the pacing still feels like I am being jerked between directions, with no clear goal that seems fighting for. 

I feel as though I have given these characters so many chances to try and charm me, and yet every page continues to show me that it simply will not be happening. Grace continues to baffle me as she is incapable to drawing readers in and her problem-solving skills are comparable to a child. I frankly do not care about her any longer and can only hope she gains some common sense in the near future. Her choices often take a vast majority of overthinking before being implemented, or she has to make a decision in the very last moment, making her appear either ill-prepared or just not up to the task.

Jared at least has some interesting characters that keeps readers mildly entertained, and considering his plot lines are more "intense" and have more dire consequences, his perspective chapters outweigh Grace's by a mile. That being said, his story still does not have me on the edge of my seat and I find myself wishing the maturity level of this series would increase so at least the action scenes would be more entertaining. The lack of development of any fight scenes or more intensity when the stakes are supposed to be high dampens the reading experience.

I am finding it harder after each book to be able to express my opinions into words - there is only so much I can say and reiterate before I feel as though there is simply nothing else to say. It is a rare occurrence that I have found myself at a lack of words, but I just cannot muster up anything beyond what I have divulged into in my reviews for the two previous books. The Christian "mythology" and religious aspect would be more alluring if it was something that we had not seen before, but with so many books utilizing fallen angels in the height of the 2000s and 2010s, this series is not measuring up to the detail that those other books were able to summon. At this point, I do not even know how many books I have left in this series, but the one thing I am certain on is that I will be grateful once it is over.

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Tempting Venom (Vipers, #3) by Rina Kent Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of Beautiful Venom and Sweet Venom on my blog, now! Contents warnings include: Depictions of mental illness such as bipolar disorder and manic episodes, as well as mentions and on-page descriptions of child sexual abuse. The story also features graphic violence, homophobia (both external and internalized), the death of a parent by suicide, and suicidal ideation. Kink elements involving consensual masochistic tendencies are present.

While not necessary to understand Marcus and Preston's story in Tempting Venom, I would recommend reading Kiss the Villain before embarking on this journey. This is simply due to the fact that events from Kiss the Villain take place prior to the events in this series and while there are no spoilers, some plot aspects mention relationships or events that readers should be aware of in order to make the most of this book.

There seems to be a phenomenon with Rina Kent in which her MM books are significantly better than her MF books - the characters are more fleshed out, relationship development seems to take place on a deeper level, and the obstacles/traumas that we see in these books go into more depth and are explored without being rushed. The tension between these characters are leagues above their MF counterparts, and it astounds me that after going through thousands of pages of secret society, mafia, and hockey romance, we only get to see a glimpse of what Kent is capable of with a handful of couples.

Preston is going through The Horrors in this book, both past and present, meanwhile Marcus is running around town chasing him down like his life depends on it. There is always somewhat of an imbalance between the leading characters in Kent's books - someone is always suffering more while one is always doing more of the chasing. At least with this installment, we were spared any initiations (which I cannot say for Beautiful Venom) - but rest assured, we did get a chase scene, as it would not be a Rina Kent book without someone either running for their life or being the predator. Marcus has this very intimidating energy surrounding him, and while readers only got glimpses of his personality in the previous two books, I appreciated the mystery surrounding him. On the completely opposite side of the scale, Preston appears to be unable to keep his mouth shut and is always on the move, whether it is terrorizing people or causing commotion, he speaks his mind and is refreshingly open about some of his struggles.

Marcus basically spends this entire book fussing over the fact that Preston does not remember something from their youth and takes out that frustration by what I would consider straight-up stalking the boy. Preston frankly does not seem to mind and at this rate, I would go far as to say that he makes his location known so it is easier for Marcus to find him. Preston has a number of moments in this book where you can see the toll of his own mental afflictions start to weigh on him - readers see him start to retreat into himself and as he dives deeper into this spiral, it affects not only his relationship with Marcus, but the relationships he has with his friends and his father.

Preston's backstory was absolutely heartbreaking and was making me nauseous by the time he recounted everything that happened to him from childhood until present moments. With the internal struggles he was facing, this is probably Rina Kent's more complex characters from any of her series, and while this is only my third series from her, I can without a doubt say it is one of her stronger books. As seen in the other two Vipers books, Preston loves to tease Dahlia by never referring to her by her correct name, and his friendship with Violet still comes through in this installment. Considering these books all overlap at some point, it was nice to see the other side of conversations and the fallout from actions that we did not get to see before.

Yes, this is a dark hockey romance book - no, you do not have to follow hockey in order for this series to make sense. I would dare say that the hockey does not even truly come into play in a serious manner in this series, with the exception of Jude, Preston, and Kane having their own little tussles on the ice or shining winning moments. The hockey aspect feels more like a plot driving force in order for the leading men of this series to have an outlet for their aggression, other than the fact that they literally kill people on the regular. These guys are so much like the Devil's Night series by Penelope Douglas, where the college basketball players in that town run around committing crimes left and right.

This trilogy ended on a high note, and with this third installment, I can safely say that it was before than its predecessors. Raw emotion, internal and external conflict, and some pretty solid spicy scenes allowed this book to pick up the slack from Dahlia and Kane's and Jude and Violet's relationships. With what feels like one hundred more Rina Kent books to get through, I can say that while I do not always fall in love with some of the relationships, she certainly will keep you entertained.

Looking for more Rina Kent? You can read my reviews of God of Malice, God of Pain, God of Wrath, God of Ruin, God of Fury, God of War, and Kiss the Villain on my blog, now!

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Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of Not in Love on my blog, now!

I told myself that I would read more Ali Hazelwood books, and yet this is now only my second one. My first read of hers definitely put a good taste in my mouth, so I was hopeful this novella would live up to the expectations I now have in place. With the upside of me wanting to find something short and quick to read, this was the perfect time to dive into more of her work. Even though my video game knowledge does not go beyond Webkinz or Club Penguin, the premise of this novella gave an enemies to lovers vibe that I simply could not resist.

When Viola discovers the co-lead designing her dream video game is in fact her number one enemy, Jesse, she is faced with confronting the past and figuring out how to move forward in the present in order to design the perfect game. Why does Jesse seem to want nothing to do with her when they basically have only interacted once in the past? I found Jesse to be an interesting character - in contemporary romance books, we see the female lead take on the more "meek" role of not wanting to approach the male lead, but here we see the opposite. I liked the mystery behind Jesse, and while Viola certainly wanted to get to the bottom of things, it was nice to see things play out on their own terms.

The smut is as good as it will get for a novella - it could have been better all things considered, and with the limited pages we did get, it was still enough to leave readers wanting more. Considering we went about over half way through the novella before anything relatively spicier came into play, I was hoping for more to make up for the shorter story. A lot of the dialogue was bordering on being cringy and while I can usually look past it, it was really standing out to me this time around. On that note, I felt as though this novella ended very jarringly - it did not feel tied together and I was unsatisfied with Viola and Jesse's story and relationship. What happens next? This definitely could have been a full-length novel instead of a novella - there was potential for a fully fleshed-out relationship to be explored here.

If you need a little romance to speed along your reading journey, this novella could be the exact filler read you are looking for before tackling a longer book. While this did not deter me from any future reading of Hazelwood's works, it certainly has made me a touch weary of what lies ahead and if I should be lowering my expectations moving forward.

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Sinful Saint (Sinners & Saints, #1) by Lana Sky Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

In an attempt to tackle the never-ending TBR pile that lives within my Kindle app, I finally thought it was time to crack this one open, considering I downloaded it more than a year ago on a Stuff Your Kindle spree. And after reading this, I honestly wish I made a different decision - I do not even know how to begin this review. I do not even know if I can put into words how much I just simply did not enjoy reading this book, but nevertheless, I will try my very best.

Considering this was a relatively short book coming in just over three hundred pages, I had my expectations managed on how much plot development we would actually see happen on page, and I have to say that I was surprised. I went into this book thinking it would be the generic dark romance book that put smut over plot, but was thrown in for a 180 and found it was the over way around. That being said, and this may be one of the first times I have said this - I think the book suffered for it. I wanted to see the passion between Daze and Frey develop as the book went on, but instead I found myself rolling my eyes at Frey's way of thinking and Daze's flat out stupidity. Things were escalating far too quickly and even though I plowed through the first half of the book quickly, it felt like hours.

Frey presented more like a sixteen-year-old rather than someone in their twenties, and maybe that is because of her upbringing and sheltered life with a preacher slash politician as a father. She felt incredibly naive for someone who has a heavy past, and yet she simply seems to throw herself in dangerous situations without a second thought. Once she is in these situations is when she decides to finally turn on her brain, so I will give her that at least. I just wish she was more forward or at least aware of her surroundings rather than living in bliss. Perhaps if Daze decided to literally reveal any piece of information to her, a lot of these issues could have been avoided. Daze's characterization just was not appealing to me in the slightest and I could not see the draw that Frey had towards him.

The storytelling felt chopping and with no dual perspective, readers are left only in Frey's mind - the story likely would have benefitted if we were given Daze's perspective of events. It would have at least explored the more "dangerous" and "dark" aspects of the story. This is a super quick read that can frankly be used as a filler book or bridge in between longer reads. If I did not already have another book lined up and ready to go, I fear that this book would have sent me into a reading slump. Will I continue with Daze and Frey's story? Maybe, if I ever find myself wanting to see it through. But for now, I can live with the cliffhanger and move on with my next read without a second thought.

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Forsaken (Forlorn, #2) by Gina Detwiler Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of Forlorn on my blog, now!

I own this entire series (given to me as a gift) so I find myself needing the satisfaction of finishing what I started, even though my thoughts on Forlorn were less than favorable. The concept certainly has its moments and I can see the vision the author wanted to lay out for readers, but it feels chunky and the pacing was like walking through tar - I found myself pushing through simply to finally get it over with. While it has been a decent amount of time since I read the first installment, it is fairly easy to simply pick up right where you left off. As someone who typically does not read any reviews of books before I have completed them, I was surprised to see a number of reviews for Forsaken noting that people were simply skipping the first book entirely. I cannot imagine just not reading the first book in a series. That being said, the first book could have been a lot shorter and the point still would have been made.

I had an ounce of hope that this series would somewhat improve - whether it was the writing, the plot, the torturous text abbreviations - literally, anything. Unfortunately that was simply not the case and I found myself stuck in a trap of reading yet another prolonged plot that could have been half the length of this novel. While I can appreciate the author wanting to have a multitude of side plots for Grace and Jared, it was not necessary in order to tie their journeys together. It felt as though we were jumping around for the entirety of the book without being able to settle into a side plot before being ripped away from it.

Grace's ignorance is staggering and frankly it becomes detrimental to her characterization - you want to root for her, but considering her common sense is getting knocked out of her every other chapter, there is not much to root for. At least Jared has some problem-solving skills courses around in his head, though they are few and far between. I could not find myself able to honestly even care about these characters - there was nothing about them that had me emotionally attached to them as a couple or as individuals. It is not that are they "not interesting," but rather that I do not connect to them or their motivations throughout the book. They kind of blindly follow other people's instructions most of the time and it stressed me out on how slowly they worked towards their goals.

This second installment left me underwhelmed and reinforced my original sentiments towards the series that it simply may not be for me. I can definitely see the appeal for maybe a new adult crowd that has not meddled in a fantasy series before, but I would not be reaching for this over the blockbuster fantasy series that are in my typical rotation.

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Happy Place by Emily Henry Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of Book Lovers and Funny Story on my blog, now!

I will admit, going into this book, I had heard rumbling this was not as "good" as Henry's other books. While I have only read two others, I wanted to remain hopeful and go into Harriet and Wyn's story with an open mind, and the premise of this novel did intrigue me. However, it is riddled with miscommunication that made me want to pull my hair out - they are adults in their thirties and cannot be honest with each other, it was maddening! Harriet and Wyn must navigate a weekend with friends while pretending to still be engaged, and honestly, they start to test each other on just how far they will go to keep up the rouse while trying to ignore their feelings. This would have been cute if it was based on college students or even a few years post-grad, but considering they are all late twenties / early thirties, it became painful.

Sabrina's character is overwhelming annoying to the point where every single time that she would basically force her friends to do everything she wanted, I wanted everyone to blow up on her. I understand that she was trying to be nostalgic one last time, but she became someone that everyone just seemed to make snide remarks about and how they did not want to do everything she was forcing them to do. You can see how the other characters entertain her plans, but the enthusiasm dwindles as the story goes on, and characters begin to become resentful. Even Parth seemed to just take everything without a fuss and considering he is her partner, you would like he would be the one person that would have been able to be honest with her.

The tension between Wyn and Harriet is so obvious, yet it was surprising that not a single one of their friends would have noticed this if they really were as close as it was presented. Obviously, friends can grow apart after college and pursuing different careers, but it just felt like they were all entwined in college and grad school, and this would have been something everyone would have noticed. Harriet and Wyn also seemed to have different goals in life and personalities, and while their meet-cute and eventual relationship progression was charming at first, I spent the entire book wondering how they were even together for so long before it all crashed down. I could not connect with any of these characters simply because they did not have any growth or development that warranted me to even become interested in their outcomes.

I found the lack of communication in this book to loom over the entire plot so much so that I could barely enjoy the few good parts of the story. You could see Cleo and Kimmy on edge and how much it started to affect the group, and with Wyn and Harriet's relationship ruse to keep everyone happy and not disrupt the week, I am surprised no one else seemed to catch on after the first day. Considering how much I enjoyed Henry's two other novels, I have to say this was a bit of a let down, and not only because I bought the hardback for $27 like three summers ago when it was published before I read anything of hers - what was I thinking!? 

If they ever made this one into a movie, I may consider revisiting it, but I can without a doubt say that you could not pay me enough money to read this book again. It will now be living on my shelf amongst the other literary fiction and contemporary romances with very bright, neon covers. If you are fine with the miscommunication trope and in the mood for a quick read, then maybe Happy Place can become your next happy place. I can only hope others can get more out of this book than I did.

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Hamlet & Juliet (The Star Crossed, #1) by Clare Edge ARC Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC - any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review. Hamlet & Juliet will be available to purchase on January 5, 2027. Content warnings are available on the author's website, here.

I would first like to thank NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review. The concept of this book really drew me in - I loved my fair share of Shakespeare in high school, and while I have not been as great recently in making my way through his works, this was a nice way to revisit his plays in a new and enticing way. The fantasy aspect had certainly been one of the major components that pulled me in - since I have been on a fantasy kick, this immediately caught my eye. The author was able to incorporate a decent amount of Hamlet into her tale, and while not many details from Romeo & Juliet were transferred over into Juliet and Hamlet's story, the essence and background of the play was still there.

The aspect of having Juliet's lips and fingernails be black after she came back to life was a great decision - it allows for a physical and constant reminder to not only Juliet, but to the reader, that she has been through quite an unimaginable ordeal. She continues to carry the loss of Romeo with her throughout this story, both literally and figuratively. Readers have to watch her basically suffer in silence for a duration of this book until she is able to share her sufferings with Hamlet in a most unexpected way.

Hamlet's character has been affected by Death in a different way than Juliet - his father has passed and now his ghost torments Hamlet at every turn. With rumors of the Miracle of Verona surrounding Juliet as she and her mother arrive to his estate, he soon seeks out her in an attempt to put an end to these hauntings once and for all. As Juliet and Hamlet become more entangled in each other's sufferings, more things grow afoot in Denmark and Hamlet's story takes precedence over Juliet's in order to drive the plot forward. 

Once you are past the halfway mark, the pacing begins to pick up - and to be quite honest, it was moving a little too fast for my liking at some points. Incorporating aspects from Hamlet is certainly a daunting task, but for readers who have not read the play, I could see this being an issue. Luckily I read it in high school and remembered all of the key players so I was able to keep the momentum going without feeling lost about what to lock in as an important factor. There are more than enough supporting characters in Edge's first installment where they are able to uplift Hamlet and Juliet while having their own storylines that pushed the main one to its climax.

I had fun reading this creative retelling of two influential plays and appreciated the liberties the author took to make it her own while keeping the heart of the plays within the pages. I would have loved to see more character growth from Juliet's side - while growth was present, it was not on the same level as Hamlet's, which made the storytelling a bit uneven in my eyes. If you are looking for a fun new way to experience Shakespeare and enjoy fantasy, this upcoming duology could be right up your alley.

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