Scan barcode
A review by the_novel_approach
Promises Part 3 by A.E. Via
3.0
I don’t think that this book was for me. I was thinking about a rating of 2.5 stars, but in the end decided to give it 3, because my reasons for not enjoying the story are totally subjective so it didn’t seem fair. In my review, I’ll mention what I didn’t like, but I’ll try to be as objective as I can so you can get an idea of what the book is about, and decide for yourself if it’s for you or not.
My biggest problem with this book was the fact that I couldn’t connect with the characters. I didn’t care what happened to them; I was just reading along without being invested in the story. I was really frustrated by that—and the fact that I still can’t figure out why this happened makes the situation worse.
It wasn’t the writing, because it was good. It wasn’t the plot, because it was interesting. Maybe the problem was the characters themselves, because they were quick to misunderstand and had some dramatic reactions. These guys played the hero all the time, always coming out on top and never losing to anyone. I’m not a fan of that. I want realer characters, with flaws and quirky behaviors. These guys were supposed to be badasses, but it didn’t feel natural. It seemed fake and like it took a lot of effort to come across as the bad boys they were supposed to be.
Besides the main couple, we also get a HEA for two side characters. I don’t think it was the beginning of a new book, because everything seemed resolved between them, but I could be wrong. From the moment that I met one of those two characters, I was wondering if he would be a future MC, but suddenly, we get his point-of-view in a few chapters, and we leave him paired off. I didn’t see it coming and I don’t know why it was included in this book.
The confrontation scene near the end didn’t do anything for me, and more than that, I couldn’t figure out what was happening or, to be precise, how everything was happening. Dana was supposed to observe everything going on during the operation, from the roof of a building, but he was able to practically see what was going on in the whole neighborhood. Normally when you’re on top of a building, you can see a couple of streets each direction but that’s it. So, exactly how tall was this building and how low where all the rest? Maybe I got it all wrong and had a different picture in my head than what was actually happening. Anyway, that’s just one of the things that bothered me in that scene.
There are a few M/F scenes in the book, as Dana has a girlfriend for about half the book. I didn’t have a problem with them, but I know some readers don’t like them in their M/M books, so I wanted to mention them.
Ford and Dana together were good, but they went through their fair share of misunderstandings and drama. I was glad when they finally got it together and started seeing each other.
Ford’s brother Brian was a very interesting character. I would have liked to get to know him better, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. He seems like he has a lot of things to tell us about his past and his future, but we left him at a point where I’m not sure if he’s going to have a book of his own.
There are characters here from the other books in the series, but you should be fine even if you haven’t read their stories (talking from personal experience here). So, if the story seems interesting to you, don’t hesitate to read this since it’s the third book in a series. It can be read as a standalone without a problem.
I hope everyone who decides to read this enjoys it more than I did. I still have no idea what the issue was, so I’m encouraging everyone who liked the blurb to read a couple of other reviews and give this story a try.
Reviewed by Ky for The Novel Approach
My biggest problem with this book was the fact that I couldn’t connect with the characters. I didn’t care what happened to them; I was just reading along without being invested in the story. I was really frustrated by that—and the fact that I still can’t figure out why this happened makes the situation worse.
It wasn’t the writing, because it was good. It wasn’t the plot, because it was interesting. Maybe the problem was the characters themselves, because they were quick to misunderstand and had some dramatic reactions. These guys played the hero all the time, always coming out on top and never losing to anyone. I’m not a fan of that. I want realer characters, with flaws and quirky behaviors. These guys were supposed to be badasses, but it didn’t feel natural. It seemed fake and like it took a lot of effort to come across as the bad boys they were supposed to be.
Besides the main couple, we also get a HEA for two side characters. I don’t think it was the beginning of a new book, because everything seemed resolved between them, but I could be wrong. From the moment that I met one of those two characters, I was wondering if he would be a future MC, but suddenly, we get his point-of-view in a few chapters, and we leave him paired off. I didn’t see it coming and I don’t know why it was included in this book.
The confrontation scene near the end didn’t do anything for me, and more than that, I couldn’t figure out what was happening or, to be precise, how everything was happening. Dana was supposed to observe everything going on during the operation, from the roof of a building, but he was able to practically see what was going on in the whole neighborhood. Normally when you’re on top of a building, you can see a couple of streets each direction but that’s it. So, exactly how tall was this building and how low where all the rest? Maybe I got it all wrong and had a different picture in my head than what was actually happening. Anyway, that’s just one of the things that bothered me in that scene.
There are a few M/F scenes in the book, as Dana has a girlfriend for about half the book. I didn’t have a problem with them, but I know some readers don’t like them in their M/M books, so I wanted to mention them.
Ford and Dana together were good, but they went through their fair share of misunderstandings and drama. I was glad when they finally got it together and started seeing each other.
Ford’s brother Brian was a very interesting character. I would have liked to get to know him better, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. He seems like he has a lot of things to tell us about his past and his future, but we left him at a point where I’m not sure if he’s going to have a book of his own.
There are characters here from the other books in the series, but you should be fine even if you haven’t read their stories (talking from personal experience here). So, if the story seems interesting to you, don’t hesitate to read this since it’s the third book in a series. It can be read as a standalone without a problem.
I hope everyone who decides to read this enjoys it more than I did. I still have no idea what the issue was, so I’m encouraging everyone who liked the blurb to read a couple of other reviews and give this story a try.
Reviewed by Ky for The Novel Approach