A review by relly
The Effing List by Cherise Sinclair

4.0

4 stars
 
I enjoyed this one. I liked the fact that we had an older heroine and hero.

When you start a business you have the passion and dedication to see it through, but when you finally achieve enough success that you can take a step back or your life outside of work takes up your time, you hope the people you leave in charge share the same passion you do, and when that doesn’t happen you get what happened here to Shadowlands. Z and the masters had created this magical community where people felt safe, and then their outside lives needed attention, the masters now mostly have partners and some of them families, so time was not as free as it had been, so no one was watching the newbie who should had kept the ship sailing, took it in a totally different direction. I can totally see to an extent what happened happening, maybe not to the extent it did, but it’s also only a book and things need to progress quicker here. I also question why not one person contacted one of the masters, no matter how busy and let them know what was happening.

I really enjoyed Valerie. She had some hang-ups, which were kind of lost during everything going on, but as a whole package she was really together, she didn’t have hang-ups about what she wanted in the bedroom, she just went with it. I thought her kids needed a swift kick up the backside to be honest and they are lucky she is the woman she is, or things would have ended very differently.

Ghost was also a delight. He was so calm and talked through everything. He gave Valerie the confidence to be the best version of herself. He believed in her and taught her how to protect herself, without making her feel weak or stupid. It was great to see a couple actually talk and hear each other and their point of view. There were no unnecessary breaks, but time was also spent in retrospection and allowed the characters to make their own decisions.

I did feel like Ghost and Valerie’s story was lost a little bit as the book worked through what was happening with the rest of the group. I didn’t mind the parts with Olivia and Natalia, it was nice to see them work their stuff out, but it also took away from the main couple.

Looking forward to seeing who Saxon lands with. Also maybe a new series with the guys from club Chains?