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A review by witandsin
Scorched by Sharon Ashwood
2.0
My review is posted on Joyfully Reviewed: http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/new-reviews/scorched-by-sharon-ashwood
It’s a difficult thing for a cop to find himself on the wrong side of a prison door. That’s what happened (in a way) to former detective Connall Macmillan. A year ago, he picked up the wrong girl at a bar and – Bam! – next thing Mac knew he was a soul-sucking demon with a ravenous appetite. Now that he’s been thrown in the Castle, a crumbling paranormal prison, Mac is determined to get out. Then he meets the beautiful, not-fully-Turned vampire Constance, and everything changes. Constance’s adopted son has been kidnapped and Mac, while a demon, hasn’t truly left the “protect and serve” motto behind. But recovering the kidnapped incubus has bigger repercussions than either Mac or Constance could ever have imagined. Constance and Mac will be in for the fight of their lives to save not only her son, but all those who are trapped in the Castle.
Just like its predecessor, Ravenous, Scorched has supernatural snark to spare. The second installment in Sharon Ashwood’s Dark Forgotten series is all attitude, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing if it didn’t overpower the world. Ms. Ashwood has a talent for world building that shines through parts of Scorched, but unfortunately, I found myself wishing that I could leave the characters behind to explore the world. Mac, who intrigued me in Ravenous, seems to have lost his unique voice in Scorched – a bad thing to happen for a hero. Constance, in turn, is surprisingly bland and seems to lose her identity over the course of the book. As for the romance between Constance and Mac…sadly, I felt like the story was simply going through the motions to bring about their falling in love, which still ended up being a case of “tell” over “show.”
The bright spots in terms of characters are Holly and Alessandro of Ravenous. Surprisingly, I liked this pair even better in Scorched than in their own book. Both they and their romance felt more fleshed out in Scorched, which was a wonderful discovery for me. The dark spot? Holly’s sister Ashe, the heroine of the next Dark Forgotten book, Unchained. Ashe is 95% attitude and it didn’t work for me. For most of Scorched, Ashe left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to walk away from the book after reading a scene with her in it. As you might have guessed with her being the heroine of the next book, she has a bit of a turnaround, but it was too little too late; she soured any interest I had in reading Unchained.
While Scorched is the second book in The Dark Forgotten series, you don’t have to read Ravenous to be able to follow along. For those who have already enjoyed Ravenous, be forewarned that Scorched doesn’t move at as quick a pace. I loved the world of the Castle and Ms. Ashwood definitely kept me intrigued with its dangerous corridors and plethora of supernatural species. Unfortunately for me, the good parts of Scorched were outweighed by the not-so-great elements. As much as I wanted to like Scorched (and I really did try to enjoy it), it simply wasn’t the book for me.
It’s a difficult thing for a cop to find himself on the wrong side of a prison door. That’s what happened (in a way) to former detective Connall Macmillan. A year ago, he picked up the wrong girl at a bar and – Bam! – next thing Mac knew he was a soul-sucking demon with a ravenous appetite. Now that he’s been thrown in the Castle, a crumbling paranormal prison, Mac is determined to get out. Then he meets the beautiful, not-fully-Turned vampire Constance, and everything changes. Constance’s adopted son has been kidnapped and Mac, while a demon, hasn’t truly left the “protect and serve” motto behind. But recovering the kidnapped incubus has bigger repercussions than either Mac or Constance could ever have imagined. Constance and Mac will be in for the fight of their lives to save not only her son, but all those who are trapped in the Castle.
Just like its predecessor, Ravenous, Scorched has supernatural snark to spare. The second installment in Sharon Ashwood’s Dark Forgotten series is all attitude, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing if it didn’t overpower the world. Ms. Ashwood has a talent for world building that shines through parts of Scorched, but unfortunately, I found myself wishing that I could leave the characters behind to explore the world. Mac, who intrigued me in Ravenous, seems to have lost his unique voice in Scorched – a bad thing to happen for a hero. Constance, in turn, is surprisingly bland and seems to lose her identity over the course of the book. As for the romance between Constance and Mac…sadly, I felt like the story was simply going through the motions to bring about their falling in love, which still ended up being a case of “tell” over “show.”
The bright spots in terms of characters are Holly and Alessandro of Ravenous. Surprisingly, I liked this pair even better in Scorched than in their own book. Both they and their romance felt more fleshed out in Scorched, which was a wonderful discovery for me. The dark spot? Holly’s sister Ashe, the heroine of the next Dark Forgotten book, Unchained. Ashe is 95% attitude and it didn’t work for me. For most of Scorched, Ashe left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to walk away from the book after reading a scene with her in it. As you might have guessed with her being the heroine of the next book, she has a bit of a turnaround, but it was too little too late; she soured any interest I had in reading Unchained.
While Scorched is the second book in The Dark Forgotten series, you don’t have to read Ravenous to be able to follow along. For those who have already enjoyed Ravenous, be forewarned that Scorched doesn’t move at as quick a pace. I loved the world of the Castle and Ms. Ashwood definitely kept me intrigued with its dangerous corridors and plethora of supernatural species. Unfortunately for me, the good parts of Scorched were outweighed by the not-so-great elements. As much as I wanted to like Scorched (and I really did try to enjoy it), it simply wasn’t the book for me.