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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Personally - QB Tyler (heart eyes) has focused a lot of this book on the taboo & unacceptable nature of their relationship. And the subsequent denial, guilt, remorse etc that swirls around the physical attraction towards each other. There isn't a lot of logic or morality here; she's not digging into the Freudian theories of why the stepdaughter-stepfather attraction is happening - and thank God for that. I actually loved the fact that the whispers of guilt & self berating, when either of the main characters realized how f-ed up the situation was, was quickly followed up with an "I don't want to think about it" shut down - which was brilliant. There are not enough pages in books to deal with (or justify) those wormholes, so best to stay away.
So take this book at face value - a super hot, taboo romance that can make you feel a bit icky if you think about it too much (so don't). Come for the smut & salaciousness, don't expect to much plot, emotional or character development. It's a fun & quick read.
Taboo is one of my favorite tropes. When I saw so many of my favorites loving this book. I dove in. I wanted to love the book. I liked it a lot, just not love. The stepfather/stepdaughter dynamic wasn’t the problem. It was more of the writing style.
Stasia first fell in love with her stepfather, Dominic, at ten years of age. Two years later, her mother marries him, is crushed, and now hates him.
Because although I saw him first and told myself at the young age of ten that I was madly in love with this beautiful man, said beautiful man fell in love with someone else—my mother. I was ten years old when I fell in love. Two years later, I fell in hate.
Fast forward a couple of weeks before her 18th birthday and she receives devastating news her mother passed away. Both grieving, she stays with him to finish school and graduate, plus he is the only father figure she has had in her life. Early in the book is where feelings start to develop. As much as I would like to see that happened later down the road. I think it would have taken away from the story.
“It’s not for little girls, baby.” I pout and furrow my eyebrows in indignation. “I am not a little girl.” “No, Stassi. You certainly are not.” His voice is low, and his eyes flare with a look I’ve never seen before.
A nipple ring and two tattoos. It’s like God made this girl with the sign that said “Insert Dominic Callahan’s dick here.”
And let your freak flag fly high for everyone to see. Because it gets boiling hot, from there, it's full steam ahead. Both are Afraid of what people will think. How wrong their love is. I will say QB Tyler wrote some of the filthy and sexy scenes.
Like many young adults, Stassia is struggling to figure out where she comes from and how she fits into the world around her. The daughter of a Black oncologist, she is close with her grandparents who helped raise her during her early childhood, but there is a gaping hole when it comes to her father. All Stassia knows is that her father is Italian, she was named to honor that heritage, and he left her young pregnant mother. Her voiced questions have been brushed off and left unanswered.
Dominic was Stassia’s first crush, her ideal of male perfection, but then he became her step-father. Stassia used anger at Dominic and rule breaking to soothe her battered heart. But everything changes when her mother is killed in a car accident. As she grieves the most important person in her life, she finally lets Dominic in as they work through their loss.
It’s at this point in the story that Q.B. Tyler’s talent particularly shines. As Dominic and Stassia’s relationship changes, nothing that happens between them throws doubt on the love that Dominic had for his wife, or makes him appear to be a skeevy step-father lusting after his step-daughter when she was too young. It’s a delicate balance to move the story along within a believable time frame, yet still respect the previous relationship with Stassia’s mother.
It should be no surprise that “daddy dearest” comes out of the woodwork to shake things up as well. He provides a great counterpoint to Dominic and gives Stassia an opportunity to show her loyalty, strength, courage, and determination.
While Keep Her Safe still has top honors as my favorite Q.B. Tyler book, this one is a close second.
