Reviews

Next of Kin by Jae

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theinkdrinker's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

josb's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

Rounding down because for the length there were some parts left incomplete with the other characters.

It's an early Jae book so there is a little less polish than her current stuff. Its funny how this was a police drama and yet felt like it had less things happening than many of her contemporary romances.

It expanded on a few of the story lines left hanging from the first book, and added more depth to Dawn and Aiden's relationship. Unfortunately, Aiden was ridiculous this book so the storyline fell a little flat at times. I was constantly reminded why Aiden loves Dawn, but didn't really understand why Dawn still chose to stay with Aiden. Also, Dawn being a connector for a new character named Evan, meant that most of her private moments and thoughts were about Evan rather than Aiden.

Del and Cade did have some great moments, but also some awkward interactions compared to how book 1 ended. I would say it did take about 50% of the book to have the chemistry feel organic. I liked the side storyline of a stalker but the suspense didn't build how I hoped, causing it to feel like the pacing was off. I suspect the pacing was just fine, I am just more used to urgency and danger when stalkers are brought into the mix.

I wouldn't say this book alone was worth getting into the series. But if you're a Jae fan and looking for a well written lesbian romance with multiple sapphic characters it is certainly worth trying. This one certainly has more of an early 2000s cop drama feel, where the characters are a little more broody and overdramatic.

mariangb1964's review

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5.0

What a great book is the next of kin. It makes the story compleet. The characters are so well written and various. I will for sure re-read book 1 and book 2 very soon.

_amaarah_'s review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

3.75

harrow_nova's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

claudia_is_reading's review

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3.0

After the events in [b:Conflict of Interest|6603893|Conflict of Interest (Portland Police Bureau, #1)|Jae|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356129952l/6603893._SX50_.jpg|6797791] we follow with Aiden and Dawn's story, their healing and an unexpected development: Aiden's half-sister, Edan. Cue to family drama *laughs*

We also have a mystery and a romance. The mystery was the part I liked the most, Kade's stalker was creepy and I understood her reluctance to put herself in the limelight, although I still kept thinking 'C'mon, woman! This is getting dangerous!'

The romance between Kade and Del, though... I really didn't feel it. I was annoyed at Del's persistence: if a woman tells you she's not interested, you should back off, no matter how strongly you feel that there might be some interest there :/

I adore Dawn here, as much as I adore her in the previous book. She's strong, smart and caring and I simply love her ♥

So yes, I liked this book, but less than the previous one.