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A review by mjbeereads
Finley Embraces Heart & Home by Anyta Sunday
5.0
Oof what can I say? I have read every book in this series so far and have loved them all.
In all honesty I didn't really bother to even check the blurb for this one because there was no chance I wouldn't read it. Cue my absolute horror when I discovered that we were starting the story when the youngest MC was 15yrs old, and me, a horrible ageist who hates reading about young people. But it was perfect, loved it.
We follow Fin and Ethan's simmering relationship over a matter of years, (making this one heck of a slow burn) as they struggle with their attraction as stepbrothers and how it clashes with their role as family.
The chemistry between these two practically vibrates off the page. The barely concealed passion and love (all the pining!) between them was so perfectly written that I struggled to put this down. It's a crazy hot slow burn and the "forbidden" angle is used to good advantage. Being stepbrothers is a little taboo (less so than cousins would be nowadays, which is what I'm informed the original Mansfield Park was) but I was completely sold on the relationship and read eagerly to get to their HEA. We get a full range of emotions from the dark to the light, which really brings these complex characters to life. This is messy, restrained, yearning in all its glory.
I haven't read Mansfield Park (not sure I've even seen a tv production of it) so I can't comment on any comparisons between this and the original text. However there was an aspect that felt a little less contemporary in their love story which gave it that dreamy/romantic edge. There's a lot of beautiful prose and I found the writing evocative and emotional but it also manages to be an easy read. It's just brilliant storytelling.
There are a lot of tough subjects broached, it's certainly not without its angst. But it never felt superfluous or overtly dramatic and was a genuinely engaging tale of love, family and identity. It's worth noting though, that if you are someone who might need content warnings, you should definitely check these out before reading.
This was just a perfect story to lose myself in. The kind of story where I couldn't hide the reactions on my face as I read. A story that I miss now it's over.
I cannot wait for the next in the series.
I received an ARC of this book and chose to leave a review.
In all honesty I didn't really bother to even check the blurb for this one because there was no chance I wouldn't read it. Cue my absolute horror when I discovered that we were starting the story when the youngest MC was 15yrs old, and me, a horrible ageist who hates reading about young people. But it was perfect, loved it.
We follow Fin and Ethan's simmering relationship over a matter of years, (making this one heck of a slow burn) as they struggle with their attraction as stepbrothers and how it clashes with their role as family.
The chemistry between these two practically vibrates off the page. The barely concealed passion and love (all the pining!) between them was so perfectly written that I struggled to put this down. It's a crazy hot slow burn and the "forbidden" angle is used to good advantage. Being stepbrothers is a little taboo (less so than cousins would be nowadays, which is what I'm informed the original Mansfield Park was) but I was completely sold on the relationship and read eagerly to get to their HEA. We get a full range of emotions from the dark to the light, which really brings these complex characters to life. This is messy, restrained, yearning in all its glory.
I haven't read Mansfield Park (not sure I've even seen a tv production of it) so I can't comment on any comparisons between this and the original text. However there was an aspect that felt a little less contemporary in their love story which gave it that dreamy/romantic edge. There's a lot of beautiful prose and I found the writing evocative and emotional but it also manages to be an easy read. It's just brilliant storytelling.
There are a lot of tough subjects broached, it's certainly not without its angst. But it never felt superfluous or overtly dramatic and was a genuinely engaging tale of love, family and identity. It's worth noting though, that if you are someone who might need content warnings, you should definitely check these out before reading.
This was just a perfect story to lose myself in. The kind of story where I couldn't hide the reactions on my face as I read. A story that I miss now it's over.
I cannot wait for the next in the series.
I received an ARC of this book and chose to leave a review.