3.94 AVERAGE

aerllia's review

4.5
adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

daria_bell's review

3.25
adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad
tracilynn33's profile picture

tracilynn33's review

3.75
adventurous lighthearted slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
_chansky's profile picture

_chansky's review

4.75
adventurous 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

This book was cute. I liked most of it, though it felt like it could have been shorter while still getting the same story across. But, all in all, I enjoyed it and will likely read the sequel.
emotional funny lighthearted 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

I think I enjoyed the second book in this duology a bit more than this one. But I think Cat Sebastian is one of the best romance writers I have ever read. She knows how to write sex scenes that fit the characters and fit the narrative and are just very well written. And I think this duology has set my standards for romance very high. The banter is extremely entertaining, the chemistry is so natural, and the narrative has very hard-hitting conversations about what it means to love someone and love people in different ways and what it's like to make things work even under circumstances that would normally keep you apart.

sunrune234's review

4.0
emotional funny lighthearted 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
etemp's profile picture

etemp's review

3.0

to quote rupaul: "meh."

i love cat sebastian with my whole heart, but this was not the one for me. i've been avoiding it for a while because the concept of highwaymen/thieves isn't super interesting to me unless it's done in a very unique way, but i thought i'd give it a try because it has pretty high ratings.

i'll start with the positives. first, kit: he has this one line where he's looking at posh-percy in the coffee shop and wonders if he (percy) has sex with his powdered wig on, and that's all it took to sell me on kit. he's grouchy and horny and really cares about his people, which i loved. second, the representation: not only do we get disabled representation, and not only do we get bisexual disabled representation, we get grumpy-vers bisexual disabled representation. and i think that's beautiful. last, the eat-the-rich vibes: kit lives by this in more ways than one.

okay, so the negatives. i was not completely sold on kit and percy's relationship, which is sad because i think that's one of cat sebastian's biggest strengths. they start off rocky with percy acting so unlikeably arrogant and manipulative and stalker-y, but their mutual sexual attraction seems to bypass any red flags. once they open up to each other, it feels like we're being spoon-fed the story that they are falling in love: the protectiveness, the 'watching the other look for you in a crowded room' thing, the desire to be close, etc. in a different pair, this would be really sweet, but it just felt really forced. i was sorely wishing for more banter at times.

percy's swordfighting hobby/side hustle was uninteresting to me in the extreme. i skipped through those chapters because imo they did not add anything meaningful to the plot, not to the romance with kit or the heist with his father. sorry to this man, but keep that to yourself.

marian was so main character coded for no reason. every time she's in a scene, the chapter ends with her jumping out of windows or walking off mysteriously into the night or something equally dramatic. this aint her book.

and lastly, the timing of
rob's reappearance
was absolutely bonkers, in a bad way. pls give these poor man one gosh darn minute of aftercare before revealing surprising information about other characters, ESPECIALLY considering kit's lack of experience. not cute. and this also applies to percy's big emotional return to his childhood home?? one second we're having a huge emotional moment and the next we're
begging kit to help us desecrate the entire house with our freaky gay sex
?? i don't think so! that was a weird choice! ESPECIALLY considering kit's lack of experience!!

so yea, i finished it. and yea, the ending was cute. but i don't think i'd reread it or recommend it over my other cat sebastian faves. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional lighthearted 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
adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes