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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Imagine my amazement when I realized this book was weaved into the universe of Professor's Kiss (Danny). I felt that I had read this writer before and I was immediately drawn in so once Sienna mentioned Danny, I was like ohhhh lol
Such a good, TABOO, book. I know how hard it is to write a romance that involves memories of a child. But not one ounce of Dier's feelings for Saoirse was sexual until she was of age.
Her story was heartbreaking. No child should go through that. Life definitely handed her a crap deal from her mother to her father. Dier was tormented by his feelings when she grew up, but as his friend Brian pointed out, their love was "raw and pure."
Seriously a great book. I'm not a fan of "months or years" later endings with the main couple separated, but this ending made sense and ultimately left me squealing in glee.
Such a good, TABOO, book. I know how hard it is to write a romance that involves memories of a child. But not one ounce of Dier's feelings for Saoirse was sexual until she was of age.
Her story was heartbreaking. No child should go through that. Life definitely handed her a crap deal from her mother to her father. Dier was tormented by his feelings when she grew up, but as his friend Brian pointed out, their love was "raw and pure."
Seriously a great book. I'm not a fan of "months or years" later endings with the main couple separated, but this ending made sense and ultimately left me squealing in glee.
I absolutely loved this forbidden age gap romance on my first read. And a reread just solidified it for me.
It’s a bit of a slow burn, but it definitely worked.
Saoirse is 14 when Diarmuid becomes her juvenile liaison officer and he realizes that no one is looking out for her or taking care of her and he takes on that responsibility.
They immediately feel a connection to each other and become best friends. And no, he doesn’t look at her like that at this point, he just wants to help her.
Circumstances force them apart and they don’t see each other again until three years later, right around her 18th birthday, and that’s when he starts to see her differently.
Their story has a ton of turns, and the tension is fantastic.
I get that this kind of forbidden romance isn’t for everyone, but they’re one of my favorites when they’re done right.
It’s a bit of a slow burn, but it definitely worked.
Saoirse is 14 when Diarmuid becomes her juvenile liaison officer and he realizes that no one is looking out for her or taking care of her and he takes on that responsibility.
They immediately feel a connection to each other and become best friends. And no, he doesn’t look at her like that at this point, he just wants to help her.
Circumstances force them apart and they don’t see each other again until three years later, right around her 18th birthday, and that’s when he starts to see her differently.
Their story has a ton of turns, and the tension is fantastic.
I get that this kind of forbidden romance isn’t for everyone, but they’re one of my favorites when they’re done right.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
emotional
tense
slow-paced
I randomly read this book for a romance challenge where I needed to read an Irish romance and ended up loving this one, for the most part. Saoirse was a 13 year old neglected child who ended up in the wrong place the wrong time and got arrested for being left with someone else's drugs. Her police representative, Diarmud ends up finding a kindred spirit in Saorise and they end up spending lots of time together in a brotherly/sisterly way until of course life gets in the way. Diarmud's girlfriend tries to keep them apart and Saoirse is outed as being in love with Diarmud by her. Ava convinces Diarmud to marry her by pretending to be pregnant. Diarmud marries and moves to be a responsible parent, and isn't able to stay in touch with Saoirse.
3 years later they meet up again in a different city and they end up with anther police related connection which causes them to have a different sort of relationship now that Saorise is almost 18, but Diarmud is still married (though separated). Saoirse's father and his illegal businesses as well as Diarmud's job and his (ex-) wife conspire to keep them apart even though they are clearly meant to be together.
Diarmud spends f o r e v e r fighting against his love for Saoirse which gets a bit old. The conflicts of Ava randomly coming back into his life and blackmailing Saorise to stay away, Saoirse's father and his connections, as well as and the police issues are to be expected and don't take away from the book and their relationship but I felt the ending was a bit underwhelming - it was as if Blake kind of tacked on an ending rather than it flowing well from the rest of the story. But I will take a HEA wherever I can get it.
This book of course reminded me of [b:Birthday Girl|39555142|Birthday Girl|Penelope Douglas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1523361696l/39555142._SY75_.jpg|61165395] and [b:Don't Kiss the Bride|56894372|Don't Kiss the Bride|Carian Cole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612072360l/56894372._SY75_.jpg|86253591] because of the age gap and younger mature woman, but it also reminded me of [b:The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever|110387|The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (Bevelstoke, #1)|Julia Quinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1274212433l/110387._SY75_.jpg|1790570] in that Saoirse has always loved Diarmud and she has to fight his psyche in order to get him for herself. Frankly, I don't remember Diarmud ever saying "I love you" while Turner in Miranda Cheever finally does.
I loved the backbone of the story being an Irish folk tale about the selkie and their relationship being based in giving up everything for each other. It really made it that much more romantic, and of course heart wrenching for Saoirse, who had to be on her own and without Diarmud for 3 years in high school and a year in college.
All in all , I loved the characters and the only drawbacks that made it more of a 4.5 rating than a 5 are Ava, the ex-wife coming back into the story over and over, and the random tacked on ending. But I'm happy Saoirse and Diarmud had their HEA. I couldn't believe this was a 7 ? book series. It seems like in each one Blake tries to attack a different romance trope/taboo which aren't necessarily all interesting to me, but I may read a couple more just because I liked Diarmud's friends and I hope Diarmud and Saoirse are mentioned in the future books :)
3 years later they meet up again in a different city and they end up with anther police related connection which causes them to have a different sort of relationship now that Saorise is almost 18, but Diarmud is still married (though separated). Saoirse's father and his illegal businesses as well as Diarmud's job and his (ex-) wife conspire to keep them apart even though they are clearly meant to be together.
Diarmud spends f o r e v e r fighting against his love for Saoirse which gets a bit old. The conflicts of Ava randomly coming back into his life and blackmailing Saorise to stay away, Saoirse's father and his connections, as well as and the police issues are to be expected and don't take away from the book and their relationship but I felt the ending was a bit underwhelming - it was as if Blake kind of tacked on an ending rather than it flowing well from the rest of the story. But I will take a HEA wherever I can get it.
This book of course reminded me of [b:Birthday Girl|39555142|Birthday Girl|Penelope Douglas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1523361696l/39555142._SY75_.jpg|61165395] and [b:Don't Kiss the Bride|56894372|Don't Kiss the Bride|Carian Cole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612072360l/56894372._SY75_.jpg|86253591] because of the age gap and younger mature woman, but it also reminded me of [b:The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever|110387|The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (Bevelstoke, #1)|Julia Quinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1274212433l/110387._SY75_.jpg|1790570] in that Saoirse has always loved Diarmud and she has to fight his psyche in order to get him for herself. Frankly, I don't remember Diarmud ever saying "I love you" while Turner in Miranda Cheever finally does.
I loved the backbone of the story being an Irish folk tale about the selkie and their relationship being based in giving up everything for each other. It really made it that much more romantic, and of course heart wrenching for Saoirse, who had to be on her own and without Diarmud for 3 years in high school and a year in college.
All in all , I loved the characters and the only drawbacks that made it more of a 4.5 rating than a 5 are Ava, the ex-wife coming back into the story over and over, and the random tacked on ending. But I'm happy Saoirse and Diarmud had their HEA. I couldn't believe this was a 7 ? book series. It seems like in each one Blake tries to attack a different romance trope/taboo which aren't necessarily all interesting to me, but I may read a couple more just because I liked Diarmud's friends and I hope Diarmud and Saoirse are mentioned in the future books :)
Saoirse Quinn has not had an easy go growing up at all with a drunk mother. At 12 she is left in a bad position by a "friend" and she is arrested and left in the hands of the Juvenile Liaison Police Officer, Diarmuid Brennan.
Diarmuid loves being a police officer after growing up in foster care and he understands what Saoirse is going through. But there is something different about Saoirse and he takes a special interest in her, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Ava.
Then all of a sudden Diarmuid is gone but he and Saoirse are brought back together when she is 17 and is arrested for driving without a license and possession of pot. How will Diarmuid deal with being around Saoirse again, especially since her father, Niall Lynch, is a man that the police are after?
This was such a great book that had me gripped from the moment it started to the moment it ended.
My heart just went out to Saoirse and what she went through growing up with her mother treating her so badly and basically she had to raise herself. I was so devastated at what her mom did with her birthday gift from Diarmuid and then for him to disappear was so sad as he was so important and stable in her life. I wasn't surprised that her dad wanted her in his life and why he did and I must say I was disappointed. Yet Saoirse did not want to disappoint her father yet at the same time she also did not want to disappoint Diarmuid.
Diarmuid was interesting as he knew how important Saoirse was to him but he also knew he couldn't have her for himself. He was so torn between his feelings and his responsibilities and then there was his relationship with Ava. Ava was so jealous right from the beginning and I was right about what happened between them. Although I must admit I was to a certain degree shocked about what she did at the end as I didn't think she would go as far as she did.
I loved all of the "drama" in the book that revolved around Saoirse with her almost double life and how she was so stuck in her life between the two men - her dad and Diarmuid. I loved how everything turned out after the ups and downs!
This was such a great book and I look forward to more from this author!
Diarmuid loves being a police officer after growing up in foster care and he understands what Saoirse is going through. But there is something different about Saoirse and he takes a special interest in her, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Ava.
Then all of a sudden Diarmuid is gone but he and Saoirse are brought back together when she is 17 and is arrested for driving without a license and possession of pot. How will Diarmuid deal with being around Saoirse again, especially since her father, Niall Lynch, is a man that the police are after?
This was such a great book that had me gripped from the moment it started to the moment it ended.
My heart just went out to Saoirse and what she went through growing up with her mother treating her so badly and basically she had to raise herself. I was so devastated at what her mom did with her birthday gift from Diarmuid and then for him to disappear was so sad as he was so important and stable in her life. I wasn't surprised that her dad wanted her in his life and why he did and I must say I was disappointed. Yet Saoirse did not want to disappoint her father yet at the same time she also did not want to disappoint Diarmuid.
Diarmuid was interesting as he knew how important Saoirse was to him but he also knew he couldn't have her for himself. He was so torn between his feelings and his responsibilities and then there was his relationship with Ava. Ava was so jealous right from the beginning and I was right about what happened between them. Although I must admit I was to a certain degree shocked about what she did at the end as I didn't think she would go as far as she did.
I loved all of the "drama" in the book that revolved around Saoirse with her almost double life and how she was so stuck in her life between the two men - her dad and Diarmuid. I loved how everything turned out after the ups and downs!
This was such a great book and I look forward to more from this author!
I am pleasantly pleased with this book. The age difference between Diarmuid and Saoirse didn't bother one bit, because I actually know of a few people with that age gap and they're happy as can be. Diarmuid is such a sexy dream boat. And the journey to his HEA with Saoirse! My poor heart has had quite a few jolts this past week, and I am gladly welcoming them.
As always, Sienna Blake writes an amazing story with amazing characters; raw and angsty. That slow burn though. *DIES*
DISCLAIMER: I REQUESTED AN ARC OF THIS BOOK FROM THE AUTHOR. THIS IS MY HONEST REVIEW.
As always, Sienna Blake writes an amazing story with amazing characters; raw and angsty. That slow burn though. *DIES*
DISCLAIMER: I REQUESTED AN ARC OF THIS BOOK FROM THE AUTHOR. THIS IS MY HONEST REVIEW.