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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another easy read with some fun forbidden elements but definitely not as entertaining or impactful as its predecessor.
VIBES
✨ Stepsibling/age gap
✨ Sex positivity + cam work
✨ Dislike to love
✨ Grumpy × sunshine
✨ Lots of spice
✨ Light LGBT rep
🗨️ Dual POV
🗨️ First-person, present tense
✨ Sex positivity + cam work
✨ Dislike to love
✨ Grumpy × sunshine
✨ Lots of spice
✨ Light LGBT rep
🗨️ Dual POV
🗨️ First-person, present tense
THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)
The Good:
✅ The teasing relationship between Garrett and Mia was a fun dynamic.
✅ The stepsibling taboo wasn't gross, for the most part. Garrett was an adult when Mia became his stepsister and didn't have much to do with her while she was growing up, and his emotional and sexual attraction to her didn't start until she was in her 20's. She had a crush on him from her teen years, but it didn't grow into anything more until he showed interest. It's a bit weird how quickly their parents accepted the relationship but... each to their own.
✅ The sex scenes are both fun and frequent, although I didn't find the voyeurism play to be as interesting as the dom/sub play in Praise.
✅ The writing is super easy to read, for the most part.
✅ The nickname 'brat' in this particular dynamic.
✅ Emerson... again. He's not very present in this book, but when he is, he's there being a fucking great friend to Garrett.
The Bad:
❌ There were a few too many sub-plots going on, so none of them were very well fleshed out.
❌ Grovel? What grovel?Interrupting Mia's solo main-stage performance to 'claim' her in front of a crowd is NOT the same thing as apologising.
❌ The exclusivity of the relationship is kind of ambiguous towards the end. So, Garrett doesn't want Mia working as a camgirl but he's happy for her to perform solo at the club?
❌ 'Sexy' is not a sexy word. Also, personal preference here, 'my sex' is not a sexy euphemism.
❌ Once again, this could've used more editing; there are a few punctuations marks missing and a few sentences that just don't read right.
✅ The teasing relationship between Garrett and Mia was a fun dynamic.
✅ The stepsibling taboo wasn't gross, for the most part. Garrett was an adult when Mia became his stepsister and didn't have much to do with her while she was growing up, and his emotional and sexual attraction to her didn't start until she was in her 20's. She had a crush on him from her teen years, but it didn't grow into anything more until he showed interest. It's a bit weird how quickly their parents accepted the relationship but... each to their own.
✅ The sex scenes are both fun and frequent, although I didn't find the voyeurism play to be as interesting as the dom/sub play in Praise.
✅ The writing is super easy to read, for the most part.
✅ The nickname 'brat' in this particular dynamic.
✅ Emerson... again. He's not very present in this book, but when he is, he's there being a fucking great friend to Garrett.
The Bad:
❌ There were a few too many sub-plots going on, so none of them were very well fleshed out.
❌ Grovel? What grovel?
❌ The exclusivity of the relationship is kind of ambiguous towards the end. So, Garrett doesn't want Mia working as a camgirl but he's happy for her to perform solo at the club?
❌ 'Sexy' is not a sexy word. Also, personal preference here, 'my sex' is not a sexy euphemism.
❌ Once again, this could've used more editing; there are a few punctuations marks missing and a few sentences that just don't read right.
I'm not mad at him or want to fight with him.
Turning the water on, I undress her first, which she lets me.
...recently defiled in numerous ways in the past two weeks.
❌ Last but definitely not least... The manic-depressive narrative.
→ Insinuating that Garrett has struggled for 36-years and then Mia comes along and makes it better is not it. It's kind of addressed in the epilogue where we see that he's medicated and in therapy, but it didn't sit right with me for most of the book.
→ Cate claims that Garrett suffers from manic depression (a.k.a. bipolar disorder), but we only hear about and see Garrett's depressive episodes; there's no mention of mania. The closest we got was the flashback chapter where
→ Garrett mentions that his depressive episodes mostly last a day or two, which by definition are not depressive episodes. Not to undermine the episodes he actually does have (being two two-week episodes, 10-years apart) but... that's some bad rep. People who suffer from depression don't just bounce back after a couple of days' rest.
→ Garrett's mum apologises for not getting him the help he needed as a kid, and he brushes it off because nOoNe iS eQuIpPeD to raise a depressed kid. But he was 26 (!!!) by the time she recognised that he needed help.
→ All that to say, Garrett's 'depression' feels like a token trait to make the readers empathise with him, rather than being something that Cate truly wanted to discuss.
4.5 🌶️
→ explicit
→ a little kinky
→ plentiful
Spicy Chapters:
Kinks:
FAVOURITE QUOTES
"Love isn't shit. It's not worth a damn thing. But time, attention, priority... those things are real, and until a man gives you those, don't give him the time of day, beautiful."
_____
"You're the world's worst business partner," I mutter.
"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I'm not here as your business partner."
_____
Note: Huh, the severe lack of highlights in my ebook is pretty telling for how little impact this had on me. I didn't highlight one quote or thought from Garrett or Mia, and I didn't laugh out loud or swing my legs like a schoolgirl once while reading this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not a bad book! Definitely not as good as the first one but it was still very good
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
plot 3.5/5
spice 5/5
fluff 5/5
cry 1/5
humor 1/5
writing: 4.5/5
fav character: mia
fav quote: "eyes on me baby" "when you look away I stop" 🤭
fav scene: playroom 🤭
read again: probably no
audiobook
spice 5/5
fluff 5/5
cry 1/5
humor 1/5
writing: 4.5/5
fav character: mia
fav quote: "eyes on me baby" "when you look away I stop" 🤭
fav scene: playroom 🤭
read again: probably no
audiobook
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A forbidden secret romance
I’m so in love with this series so far. I love that Garrett is relatable as so many people including myself struggle with their mental health. Also, I love how lovable Mia is and I kinda consider her as plus size and I love the representation for us plus size people. I loved the tension and their story. I love that Eden and Charlotte were supportive of Mia and helped hype her up and her confidence. Of course, you have Emerson helping Garrett and talking sense into. I loved loved loved this story. Sara, thank you for these characters, they are so wonderful.
I’m so in love with this series so far. I love that Garrett is relatable as so many people including myself struggle with their mental health. Also, I love how lovable Mia is and I kinda consider her as plus size and I love the representation for us plus size people. I loved the tension and their story. I love that Eden and Charlotte were supportive of Mia and helped hype her up and her confidence. Of course, you have Emerson helping Garrett and talking sense into. I loved loved loved this story. Sara, thank you for these characters, they are so wonderful.
I don’t vibe with the step-sister trope 🙅🏼♀️
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated