Reviews

Love Burns Bright by Rien Gray

rogue_lurker's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

allyjs's review

5.0

Goddamn I love this series. Campbell and Justine are #goals on so many levels. I'm gonna go scream fangirlishly for a while

natsora's review

5.0

Breathtaking page turner

Campbell and Justine are back! This time trouble follows them right to their door. Damn when people Campbell cares about are threatened, they got feral. Love the action, the sex and the clever murder plots!

sopie's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

nmcannon's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fuller review to come, but rest assured: I would read a million billion entries in this series. Wow!

jacemchale's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

A great mix of suspense and mystery. And, of course, my love for Justine and Campbell can only grow. A great installment to the series that did not disappoint. 

caiacassiopeia's review

adventurous dark

4.25

RTC

jenaw1n's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

judeinthestars's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

There’s nothing simple about introducing the person you love to your parents. When that person is a non-binary assassin? And you’ve stayed away from your parents because of your abusive husband? And your parents have secrets of their own? Things get really interesting.

One of the reasons I stopped reading thrillers for a long time was that I hated being in the head of the killer. What am I doing reading a series about an assassin then? In Rien Gray’s Fatal Fidelity books, violence is the solution more often than not. It’s never glorified, however, and Campbell is one of the most complex characters I know. In this book, both them and Justine are faced with hard choices and fundamental questions. I feel like the author avoided all traps in creating morally-grey characters, and I enjoyed reading about the conundrum their love and desire for a future together put them in, their thought process in finding the right answers, or answers that are right for them at any rate.

I first started this series because the premise of the first book, Love Kills Twice, intrigued me, an assassin hired by both husband and wife who ends up falling in love with the latter. The second one, Love Bleeds Deep, was good but I didn’t feel the same enthusiasm for it. This third book renewed my interest, giving me familiar and new at the same time. I don’t know if there will be a fourth but I hope so.