Dirty Little Promise (Forbidden Desires, #2) by Kendall Ryan Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of Dirty Little Tease and Dirty Little Secret on my blog, now! Dirty Little Tease is available for free as a preview novella for Dirty Little Secret -- you do not need to read the novella in order to start the series, as it is an introduction/preview to the first 100 pages of Dirty Little Secret, accompanied by some exclusive content from the author.

Emma and Gavin's relationship faces a lot of obstacles in this second installment, and nothing short of dangerous is thrown into their lives. Considering I read Dirty Little Tease and Dirty Little Secret about two-and-a-half years ago and was able to quickly orient myself back into this series, I have to say that the author does a pretty good job at keeping readers up to speed. This book had a great combination of action, emotion, and spice - the book flowed very well and honestly kept me fully engaged the entire time.

Do I feel bad for Cooper? Absolutely. Do I think he needs to get a grip and move on? Sure thing! His friendship with Emma was so great, and unfortunately not everything is made to last and his own feelings seemed to get in the way of their friendship ever getting back to the way that it was before Gavin came into the picture. I think the relationship between Gavin and his brothers took more of a forefront in this book, and I was happy to see Gavin really start to work through his own feelings and past experiences. Given that in many romance books we do not see the male leads actually work towards being better and opening up to others, it was a pleasant surprise.

Gavin and Emma definitely had some things to work through - we get a much better picture of the horrors of Emma's last relationship and we see Gavin grabbling with a past that has come back to haunt him and linger over his relationship with Emma. Both have to tackle things on their own, but they were able to support one another once they each decided to reveal information about their pasts and allow themselves to be open with one another - in more ways than one.

The spice in this book was crazyyyy. I do not know how Emma came out of this book without having her limbs dislocated with the way that Gavin was throwing this girl around. The author really upped the game from the prequel novella and first installment - compared to the minimal presence it had in the first book, this truly upped the game and honestly showed how much Gavin and Emma trusted one another. Their chemistry literally feels like it is coming off the page and the author truly makes readers invested in the development of their relationship. I truly ate this book up and honestly look forward to seeing where we are taken next with Cooper's story.

You can add Dirty Little Promise on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Dirty Little Secret (Forbidden Desires, #1) by Kendall Ryan Review

Dirty Little Tease is available for free as a preview novella for Dirty Little Secret -- you do not need to read the novella in order to start the series, as it is an introduction/preview to the first 100 pages of Dirty Little Secret, accompanied by some exclusive content from the author. You can read my review of Dirty Little Tease on my blog, here.

This is a spoiler-free review!

If you have read Dirty Little Tease, you are able to jump right into this book just before the halfway mark. The premise of Emma working as an escort for Gavin and Cooper's company was something that I had not come across recently, and was excited to see how it played out. The smut was pretty good and had decent build up where it did not feel as if the scene was just randomly through into the book.

I know that we were supposed to be rooting for Gavin and Emma to be together, but I was really enjoying all of the moments and conversations that Cooper and Emma were having. Gavin just seems so hot and cold with her, and Emma is constantly forgiving him almost immediately after they fight or she finds out that he does not want a relationship. He is also super jealous whenever Cooper and Emma hang out, but seems to be only externally denying that he wants to date her, because his thoughts are definitely saying that he wants her to himself.

There is a ton of drama that happens in this book that I felt hindered the development of Gavin and Emma's potential relationship expanding beyond her being Gavin and Cooper's personal escort. After every few chapters, something new would come up that would cause Emma to be upset with Gavin or be upset with something else in her life, and would always result with her calling Cooper and then Gavin being jealous that she did not reach out to him instead. This scenario was almost always followed by Gavin and Emma having sex -- it felt like I was reading a constant loop of the same thing happening over and over again.

More time could have also been devoted to going more in depth about Emma's past relationship. We know as readers that it was abusive because she explicitly states so, but then when it is actually brought up because it plays a role in the story, it felt glossed over. In Emma's POV we learn more about how much abuse she endured and how she was in the hospital because of it, but then we never hear about it again.

This book felt like Fifty Shades of Grey had a love triangle between Anna, Christian, and his brother -- Emma is inexperienced when it comes to submission, and Gavin is a CEO who has been involved in it for years, as he and his brothers run a high-end escort service. There are the expected "I don't do relationships" scene, "I don't spend the night with anyone" scene, and a helicopter scene, just to name a few similarities. It felt as though I was re-reading Fifty Shades of Grey instead of reading a new book, but I am a sucker for those tropes so I was just happy to be along for the ride.

The cliffhanger definitely has me wanting to read the next book in the series. To the best of my understanding, the next book is still Gavin's focus, but then the books transition to Cooper and Quinn. The first 200 pages of this book definitely had me flipping the pages so fast, but then I felt as though the story slowed down until the very last couple chapters, with a new drama plot thrown in to spearhead the next book.

You can add Dirty Little Secret on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date with releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Dirty Little Tease (Forbidden Desires, #0.5) by Kendall Ryan Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Dirty Little Tease is available for free on Kindle as a preview novella for Dirty Little Secret -- you do not need to read the novella in order to start the series, as it is an introduction/preview to the book. 

Gavin is an arrogant CEO of an escort service that he runs with his brothers, Cooper and Quinn, and Emma is the head librarian who recently came out of an abusive relationship. They catch each other's eye every morning in a coffee shop, and as expected, Emma and Gavin's interactions soon grow more than ordering espresso and tea.

I liked how the author included Cooper's POV in the preview -- I hope his POV continues to be seen in the complete first book. You do not often see side characters getting their own perspective chapters in romance books, and I was pleasantly surprised when we got to read his own thoughts on Gavin and Emma. 

With POVs from Gavin, Emma, and Cooper, the reader gets to have a more extensive view on how they all are adjusting to having each other in their lives, while also getting to see an outside perspective watching Gavin and Emma finally interact after not speaking a word to each other for a year, only giving each other quick glances.

Both Gavin and Emma have complicated pasts, and since this is only a preview of Dirty Little Secret, we only get a small glimpse of what they have gone through and experienced. I think the author did a decent job of including hints of their traumas throughout the chapters, and started to show how they both respond to their pasts influences their actions.

The smut is minimal yet present -- just barely there at the end of the preview, which makes you want to open up Dirty Little Secret immediately to see how everything plays out. It is an excellent way to see if you want to continue with the series and introduces you to the characters and their personalities before you dive right into the first book. For fans of Praise by Sara Cate and Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, this novella will certainly grab your attention.

You can add Dirty Little Tease on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date with releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!