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kfriend 's review for:
Virtuous Lies
by Haley Jenner
The sexy cover, so many recommendations, arranged mafia marriage, I was ravenous and ready to dive into this story! And oh how I wanted to love it- it has all the ingredients I want in a dark mafia romance, all the tropes I gobble right up. And, I certainly enjoyed parts of it- but I didn’t fall into this quite the way I anticipated or hoped. This is my first Haley Jenner book, and I can certainly see the hype- even if this didn’t quite land for me.
What really worked for me was the relationship dynamic and the spice! Like holy moly can Haley Jenner write some spice. And, I did appreciate our characters. Our mafia princess Bianca is courageous, selfless, strong, but also indelibly sweet. And Vincent- well this man is HOT. Controlling, dangerous, manipulative and ruthlessly strategic. The way he arranges the pieces on the board is really compelling, but what I loved even more was just how obsessed (and unapologetically so) about her heroine Bianca. Like worships her- even more than we could know. And there is AMPLE spice- spice a plenty! I wish we’d had a bit more emotional intimacy between these two, but their chemistry is super engaging.
Where I didn’t enjoy this as much was just the overall flow and plot of the story. There were plot holes and dropped storylines, too much emphasis on Bianca’s “secret” from Vincent, when really what else did he expect from her given the situation? And the plot itself just felt disjointed, like two parts of a duet squished together since we had multiple conflicts (both over dramatized, and neither had very intensive stakes when it comes to our characters), and the ending felt more focused on other characters and setting up their own books than a meaningful focus and evolution for these characters. Their journey and arc felt a bit static, and unsatisfying. I ended up skimming parts of the ending, just because I felt like we lost focus on our couple. Not to mention, the finale and the “bad guy” felt super out of nowhere. It was like Jenner didn’t have anywhere to go with the rest of the story after the main couple’s drama wrapped up, so it felt like part epilogue and part a whole new story- but for like 50% of the book. It was just…well disjointed, and needed more developing.
SO, the couple I loved, the spice great, the overarching flow of the story FOR Me didn’t land or work. I’m not sure I’ll dive into the next- though I am intrigued by the couple and I think Jenner certainly has some talent I’d love to explore more. The future heroine was NOT my favorite character in this book, however, but perhaps there’s more to her.
What really worked for me was the relationship dynamic and the spice! Like holy moly can Haley Jenner write some spice. And, I did appreciate our characters. Our mafia princess Bianca is courageous, selfless, strong, but also indelibly sweet. And Vincent- well this man is HOT. Controlling, dangerous, manipulative and ruthlessly strategic. The way he arranges the pieces on the board is really compelling, but what I loved even more was just how obsessed (and unapologetically so) about her heroine Bianca. Like worships her- even more than we could know. And there is AMPLE spice- spice a plenty! I wish we’d had a bit more emotional intimacy between these two, but their chemistry is super engaging.
Where I didn’t enjoy this as much was just the overall flow and plot of the story. There were plot holes and dropped storylines, too much emphasis on Bianca’s “secret” from Vincent, when really what else did he expect from her given the situation? And the plot itself just felt disjointed, like two parts of a duet squished together since we had multiple conflicts (both over dramatized, and neither had very intensive stakes when it comes to our characters), and the ending felt more focused on other characters and setting up their own books than a meaningful focus and evolution for these characters. Their journey and arc felt a bit static, and unsatisfying. I ended up skimming parts of the ending, just because I felt like we lost focus on our couple. Not to mention, the finale and the “bad guy” felt super out of nowhere. It was like Jenner didn’t have anywhere to go with the rest of the story after the main couple’s drama wrapped up, so it felt like part epilogue and part a whole new story- but for like 50% of the book. It was just…well disjointed, and needed more developing.
SO, the couple I loved, the spice great, the overarching flow of the story FOR Me didn’t land or work. I’m not sure I’ll dive into the next- though I am intrigued by the couple and I think Jenner certainly has some talent I’d love to explore more. The future heroine was NOT my favorite character in this book, however, but perhaps there’s more to her.