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ravensandlace 's review for:
Hearts Strengthened by Cyanide
by Deanne Dietz
Title: Hearts Strengthened by Cyanide
Author: D.E. Dietz
Genre: Historical Fiction Romance
Format: eARC
Series: The Afton Adders (#3)
Star Rating: 4 stars
tw: profanity, alcohol and substance use, physical violence, murder, gore, explicit sex scenes, references to domestic violence, sexual assault by a priest, sexual assault by a Nazi soldier, suicide, mafia violence, torture, PTSD, and war
These trigger warnings can be found at the beginning of the book.
A special thank you goes to Torch Lit Ink for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
It’s been a while since I’ve dived into a World War II book. I found myself getting a little burned out by the time period, considering what we are dealing with now. However, when Torch Lit Ink sent me a request for this book, it sounded like the perfect opportunity for me to revisit the time period. I truly enjoyed this book, and I enjoyed my psychotic main characters as well. I say that with all the love. They were psychotic but in the best way. And this book helped me to fall back in love with my first genre love, World War II.
I don’t know whose POV I enjoyed more. Both Alice and Kenneth were fun to read, and I enjoyed seeing them both grow with each other. Nothing makes my heart happier than to see two extremely broken characters break down each other’s walls. This was a true enemies to lovers and it was done exceptionally well. They hated each other so much, but they were also so obsessed with each other. I was living for it. Ya’ll know I am a sucker for character growth, and these two characters had some fantastic growth.
Speaking of things being done exceptionally well, I must mention the BDSM aspects of the book. This is how you do BDSM. There were safe words, consent, constant check-ins, and more. Kenneth may have been a depraved monster who loved putting Nazi heads on a stick, but he makes sure his woman is comfy with anything they might be doing. The minute he did that, I was hooked on him. He’s right up there with Diseal from Den of Vipers.
My only slightly negative complaint, and it’s not even a complaint, is that the dialogue was a touch too modern for the time period. They talked like people from today, with some sayings from the time period and the region they were in or from. But honestly, that didn’t bother me too much. I’m just one of those who are picky about dialogue relating to the time period.
Overall, I’m happy with this book. There were so many things that were done well, and I truly enjoyed the growth between Alice and Kenneth. Y'all know I am a huge sucker for character growth, and this book had it in leaps and bounds. And I should mention that even though this is part of a series, this can be read as a standalone, and you won't miss much. I highly recommend this book, especially for those who enjoy WWII and character growth.