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gretareadsromance's review
5.0
Disarm is book 2 in this series and like everything else by Karina Halle it was fabulous! Looking forward to more from this author.
profromance's review
5.0
Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“It didn’t matter. I saw you and I knew we were alike. I knew you were like me. Alone in this world. Unmoored. Looking for something. Family.”
Psst…I have a confession. First of all, before I confess, you need to know something. I love Karina Halle. Seriously. I love her story-telling, her heroes and heroines, and the way in which she tugs at my heartstrings. As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t much that she CAN’T write from rom-com to contemporary to romantic suspense.
Also, I’m not a fashionista. I have a basic working knowledge of the fashion world, and I definitely don’t ascribe to the latest trends. Instead, I do me. I like what I like, and I buy it. Period. End of story. When she announced that she was writing a series of standalones centered in the world of fashion, I was open to it, but I didn’t think I could connect with her characters. Yet, that’s fiction, right? We don’t always run into billionaires in our life. But whatever…
So here’s my confession. I liked her first book in this series, Discretion. Notice I said “liked.” Olivier and Sadie were fiery tempests of bedroom canoodling, and the overarching story of the Dumonts kept me reading it. But, unlike her other books, I wasn’t in love with it. I said so in my review of that book. There was some Karina Halle magic missing, and her acknowledgments for that book indicated why. Yet, after meeting her at Book Bonanza, I became excited about this next book, Disarm, and DEFINITELY for the third book, Disavow. Why? Because Halle undertook to make us, her devout readers, fall in love with some characters that seem unlikeable. I was colored excited.
When Disarm hit my Kindle I was engaged in reading other ARCs, but I saw it sitting there with its hot cover model, and I was dying to read it. How could Halle make me fall in love with Blaise, the son of the villain of the story? Well, she does it beautifully by handing us his soul in this book. It is clear from the first page that this story fell out of Halle’s heart. Seraphine and Blaise’s journey in this book will pull at your soul and place you squarely in her “edge-of-your-seat” storytelling.
Disarm offers us the story of Seraphine and Blaise, cousins with no blood relation. Blaise feels like an outsider in his family. He is invisible and decides at some point that living under his family rule won’t help him, so he undertakes to live life on his own terms. At least for a while. Seraphine is adopted, and her adoptive parents provide her with a life of her dreams. On the death of her father, Seraphine is suspicious that her father was murdered by her uncle, Blaise’s father. Undertaking to investigate this, she enlists the help of people who undermine and put her life in danger.
From their youth, Seraphine and Blaise have been attracted to each other. Seemingly forbidden, both fight their attraction. Giving into it one night, they are almost found out, and Blaise hides behind his mask to push Seraphine away for her protection. However, life eventually puts them together, and Blaise can no longer keep his distance. When her life becomes endangered, will Blaise stand with his family, or will he accept his love for Seraphine and protect her?
One of the issues I had with Discretion was its lack of depth of character. I struggled with understanding Olivier’s motivation and intense attraction to Sadie. On a surface level, it made sense, but I never felt connected to them. In Disarm, this is NOT the case. From the outset of the story, your heart bleeds for Seraphine and Blaise. Both of them seemingly don’t belong. It’s the tie that binds them, but it also makes your heart hurt that, surrounded by family, they feel like outsiders. As they age, their connection grows stronger, and they can see that alienation in each other. It’s in that connection where you find the beauty of this story. I love Blaise and Seraphine more than Olivier and Sadie because their pairing makes sense even though it has a forbidden nature.
Halle’s Disarm has a story that pulls you forward. When I finally sat down to read her romance, I could NOT put it down. From its beginning to its end, your heart is pounding out of worry for Seraphine and Blaise’s safety because Gautier is dastardly. Between Pascal and Gautier, there is no sense of rightness. From one page to the next, you never know who Blaise can trust to keep Seraphine safe from the evil of his family. The care that Halle takes in crafting the suspense of this romance makes you turn the page, hoping they will find their happy ending. I loved the suspense of this book. At its end, it’s unclear how the Dumont label will survive.
Even more, Blaise’s journey towards Seraphine offer some of the most sentimental, heart-wrenching parts of the story. In the first book, we get a sense that Blaise is different from his brother, Pascal. However, Seraphine and her brothers cannot trust in him. In Disarm, Blaise’s true nature shows us his sensitivity and his love. He really is “disarming” in this story, upending his narrative in the context of his family’s story. He is believable as a romantic hero, and Halle’s genius in this book is making us fall in love with him.
As I stated at the outset of this review, I didn’t know what to think about The Dumonts. What I’ve come to find, especially through Karina Halle’s newest book, Disarm, is a story of second chances. We should all deign to withhold our judgment of others because, as this book suggests, love can prevail. It can change our hearts and push us to be better people. One thing I can guarantee about Disarm: you will fall in love with Seraphine and Blaise, and you’ll look forward to Halle’s rendering of Pascal’s story in Disavow.
“It was this. It was a future. It was love. It was creating a life and sharing a life of love. And I found it with this man.”
“It didn’t matter. I saw you and I knew we were alike. I knew you were like me. Alone in this world. Unmoored. Looking for something. Family.”
Psst…I have a confession. First of all, before I confess, you need to know something. I love Karina Halle. Seriously. I love her story-telling, her heroes and heroines, and the way in which she tugs at my heartstrings. As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t much that she CAN’T write from rom-com to contemporary to romantic suspense.
Also, I’m not a fashionista. I have a basic working knowledge of the fashion world, and I definitely don’t ascribe to the latest trends. Instead, I do me. I like what I like, and I buy it. Period. End of story. When she announced that she was writing a series of standalones centered in the world of fashion, I was open to it, but I didn’t think I could connect with her characters. Yet, that’s fiction, right? We don’t always run into billionaires in our life. But whatever…
So here’s my confession. I liked her first book in this series, Discretion. Notice I said “liked.” Olivier and Sadie were fiery tempests of bedroom canoodling, and the overarching story of the Dumonts kept me reading it. But, unlike her other books, I wasn’t in love with it. I said so in my review of that book. There was some Karina Halle magic missing, and her acknowledgments for that book indicated why. Yet, after meeting her at Book Bonanza, I became excited about this next book, Disarm, and DEFINITELY for the third book, Disavow. Why? Because Halle undertook to make us, her devout readers, fall in love with some characters that seem unlikeable. I was colored excited.
When Disarm hit my Kindle I was engaged in reading other ARCs, but I saw it sitting there with its hot cover model, and I was dying to read it. How could Halle make me fall in love with Blaise, the son of the villain of the story? Well, she does it beautifully by handing us his soul in this book. It is clear from the first page that this story fell out of Halle’s heart. Seraphine and Blaise’s journey in this book will pull at your soul and place you squarely in her “edge-of-your-seat” storytelling.
Disarm offers us the story of Seraphine and Blaise, cousins with no blood relation. Blaise feels like an outsider in his family. He is invisible and decides at some point that living under his family rule won’t help him, so he undertakes to live life on his own terms. At least for a while. Seraphine is adopted, and her adoptive parents provide her with a life of her dreams. On the death of her father, Seraphine is suspicious that her father was murdered by her uncle, Blaise’s father. Undertaking to investigate this, she enlists the help of people who undermine and put her life in danger.
From their youth, Seraphine and Blaise have been attracted to each other. Seemingly forbidden, both fight their attraction. Giving into it one night, they are almost found out, and Blaise hides behind his mask to push Seraphine away for her protection. However, life eventually puts them together, and Blaise can no longer keep his distance. When her life becomes endangered, will Blaise stand with his family, or will he accept his love for Seraphine and protect her?
One of the issues I had with Discretion was its lack of depth of character. I struggled with understanding Olivier’s motivation and intense attraction to Sadie. On a surface level, it made sense, but I never felt connected to them. In Disarm, this is NOT the case. From the outset of the story, your heart bleeds for Seraphine and Blaise. Both of them seemingly don’t belong. It’s the tie that binds them, but it also makes your heart hurt that, surrounded by family, they feel like outsiders. As they age, their connection grows stronger, and they can see that alienation in each other. It’s in that connection where you find the beauty of this story. I love Blaise and Seraphine more than Olivier and Sadie because their pairing makes sense even though it has a forbidden nature.
Halle’s Disarm has a story that pulls you forward. When I finally sat down to read her romance, I could NOT put it down. From its beginning to its end, your heart is pounding out of worry for Seraphine and Blaise’s safety because Gautier is dastardly. Between Pascal and Gautier, there is no sense of rightness. From one page to the next, you never know who Blaise can trust to keep Seraphine safe from the evil of his family. The care that Halle takes in crafting the suspense of this romance makes you turn the page, hoping they will find their happy ending. I loved the suspense of this book. At its end, it’s unclear how the Dumont label will survive.
Even more, Blaise’s journey towards Seraphine offer some of the most sentimental, heart-wrenching parts of the story. In the first book, we get a sense that Blaise is different from his brother, Pascal. However, Seraphine and her brothers cannot trust in him. In Disarm, Blaise’s true nature shows us his sensitivity and his love. He really is “disarming” in this story, upending his narrative in the context of his family’s story. He is believable as a romantic hero, and Halle’s genius in this book is making us fall in love with him.
As I stated at the outset of this review, I didn’t know what to think about The Dumonts. What I’ve come to find, especially through Karina Halle’s newest book, Disarm, is a story of second chances. We should all deign to withhold our judgment of others because, as this book suggests, love can prevail. It can change our hearts and push us to be better people. One thing I can guarantee about Disarm: you will fall in love with Seraphine and Blaise, and you’ll look forward to Halle’s rendering of Pascal’s story in Disavow.
“It was this. It was a future. It was love. It was creating a life and sharing a life of love. And I found it with this man.”
bibliophile90's review
4.0
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**
"There's nothing in this world more beautiful than her, not even a million rising and setting suns."
Disarm is the second book in The Dumonts series. I was really looking forward to Seraphine's story after meeting her in Discretion. I liked this book better than the previous one, and that is because there was more character growth, and history between the two main characters. I admired Seraphine's strong and determined personality. Even though she wasn't born into the Dumont family, she still feels a strong loyalty to her adoptive father and the family business. Even after being adopter at nine years old, she still feels like she isn't enough and doesn't fully belong. She comes from a lost and damaged place, and is scared that she will end up alone again. Blaise is the black sheep of the family and her adoptive cousin. Unbeknownst to her, he too feels like he is alone in the world. Not fitting in and being a failure in the eyes of his parents.
Blaise and Seraphine have history, and I was happy that the author showcased this in short flashbacks. This really helped me in connecting with the characters. This was very important because the book isn't that long for a drawn-out development of the relationship, so seeing that there already was something between them helped me in believing in their love in present time. The suspense was done really well in this book and I enjoyed reading the scenes were the characters were in danger. I really enjoyed this book and loved seeing these two great characters come together. I absolutely love Karina Halle's writing style, it was very easy to read and it had a great flow. I am pleasantly surprised that the next book Disavow is Pascal's story. I currently dislike him, but I do have a thing for anti-heroes and redemption stories, so I look forward to seeing how it will play out.
"There's nothing in this world more beautiful than her, not even a million rising and setting suns."
Disarm is the second book in The Dumonts series. I was really looking forward to Seraphine's story after meeting her in Discretion. I liked this book better than the previous one, and that is because there was more character growth, and history between the two main characters. I admired Seraphine's strong and determined personality. Even though she wasn't born into the Dumont family, she still feels a strong loyalty to her adoptive father and the family business. Even after being adopter at nine years old, she still feels like she isn't enough and doesn't fully belong. She comes from a lost and damaged place, and is scared that she will end up alone again. Blaise is the black sheep of the family and her adoptive cousin. Unbeknownst to her, he too feels like he is alone in the world. Not fitting in and being a failure in the eyes of his parents.
Blaise and Seraphine have history, and I was happy that the author showcased this in short flashbacks. This really helped me in connecting with the characters. This was very important because the book isn't that long for a drawn-out development of the relationship, so seeing that there already was something between them helped me in believing in their love in present time. The suspense was done really well in this book and I enjoyed reading the scenes were the characters were in danger. I really enjoyed this book and loved seeing these two great characters come together. I absolutely love Karina Halle's writing style, it was very easy to read and it had a great flow. I am pleasantly surprised that the next book Disavow is Pascal's story. I currently dislike him, but I do have a thing for anti-heroes and redemption stories, so I look forward to seeing how it will play out.
cassire's review
4.0
I was a little worried starting this one because the first book disappointed me. I will say that I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first book. There is a second chance, slow burn between the past and the present. I ate it up. There was some suspense to it that was fun. I’m all ready for the last book in the series.
I voluntarily read an early copy.
I voluntarily read an early copy.
cherryredsreads's review
4.0
Another book in this installment where I fell in love with the characters Author Karina Halle has created.
I loved Blaise & Seraphine's story.
It had just enough angst, love, mystery, and sexy times to keep me entertained.
This story vividly had me feeling like I was living the suspense that the characters were going through. I also love a good forbidden romance which this book delivered.
Overall I enjoyed reading this book.
I loved Blaise & Seraphine's story.
It had just enough angst, love, mystery, and sexy times to keep me entertained.
This story vividly had me feeling like I was living the suspense that the characters were going through. I also love a good forbidden romance which this book delivered.
Overall I enjoyed reading this book.
cokiereads's review
5.0
So, so good. Slightly taboo (maybe not though). I love Karina Halle. Her stories are always hot, and give plenty of angst. This one is no different. I really liked the main character Serephine. And with the complications from book 1 (please read book 1 before, it does help) and the family dynamics gives this book more depth.
alexperc_92's review against another edition
5.0
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Review, blog tour and giveaway can be found on *Milky Way of Books*
You know that you have great romantic suspense when both characters have also angst and their own conflicting emotions to deal with, along with everything else! That's what I enjoyed so much reading in Karina Halle's new book! Following the success of the first book, Disarm is the story of Seraphine and Blaise who are step-cousins and at the same time rivals in the war for power in the fashion industry.
Following the events from the first book, we learn about how Seraphine came into the Dumont family who adopted her and loved her in the way every child should be.
Following the POV of Blaise and Seraphine back and forth from past to present, I got to see the longing and the unrequited love. There were so many emotions in this one I could burst! Not to mention that there was action and the scheming of the other members of the family was downright evil.
Money indeed doesn't bring happiness.
This was a really good sequel which left me anxiously hoping to see how Pascal will be redeemed!
You know that you have great romantic suspense when both characters have also angst and their own conflicting emotions to deal with, along with everything else! That's what I enjoyed so much reading in Karina Halle's new book! Following the success of the first book, Disarm is the story of Seraphine and Blaise who are step-cousins and at the same time rivals in the war for power in the fashion industry.
Following the events from the first book, we learn about how Seraphine came into the Dumont family who adopted her and loved her in the way every child should be.
Following the POV of Blaise and Seraphine back and forth from past to present, I got to see the longing and the unrequited love. There were so many emotions in this one I could burst! Not to mention that there was action and the scheming of the other members of the family was downright evil.
Money indeed doesn't bring happiness.
This was a really good sequel which left me anxiously hoping to see how Pascal will be redeemed!
ladycivic's review
5.0
I LOVED Seraphine and Blaise’s book! The second in the Dumont series, Disarm picks up where Discretion left off. IMO, you do need to read the first book due to the same....mystery, I guess I could say, that started in the first book. Blaise and Seraphine were so perfect for each other! I wasn’t so sure in the beginning, but as the story unfolds...PERFECTION! I’m going to leave this short and sweet, there is too much potential for me to inadvertently give pieces away. I’ll simply say this is an absolute must read!
ladycivic's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED Seraphine and Blaise’s book! The second in the Dumont series, Disarm picks up where Discretion left off. IMO, you do need to read the first book due to the same....mystery, I guess I could say, that started in the first book. Blaise and Seraphine were so perfect for each other! I wasn’t so sure in the beginning, but as the story unfolds...PERFECTION! I’m going to leave this short and sweet, there is too much potential for me to inadvertently give pieces away. I’ll simply say this is an absolute must read!