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A review by cala_p
Lock by Debra Anastasia
3.0
Lock is the next book in the series of standalones by Debra Anastasia. The series needs a name. I enjoyed Mercy quite a bit but could not get into Havoc. So this one, while it sounded really good from the teasers that were posted around social media, I was not sure what to expect.
The first 40% of the book is in one direction, while the rest is in the other. The first bit focuses on learning who Ember and Lock is and their interactions, and thus falling in love. They meet when Lock causes trouble with a rival gang and ends up going through the window of a pizza place that Ember and her guards are eating. Once Lock is all fixed up, he goes looking for the beautiful mystery girl and from then on, they meet and start a sort of romance.
Lock was not the character I was expecting, not from the teasers nor the type of stories these books are. In fact, how he acted, especially around Ember, he seemed more like a 17-year-old to me rather than a 18/19-year-old. Besides that though, he is very sweet. For a while it seemed like this should be a cutesy contemporary romance novel. I was enjoying it, it just was not expected for these novels.
Ember drove me nuts. I found her 2D and very whiny and bratty. I understand how her brother’s protection would be annoying when it is overboard, but there are times that she dismisses him when she really should not. If she understands who he is and how is perceived by others, maybe, just maybe, she should listen to him. I mean, he is not a complete tyrant; he let her date Lock. Mind you, they were always followed, but not too closely, and they were not there to stop kissing or anything; just to protect her from danger. So as crazy as Nix was sometimes, even he pulled back.
Then around the 40% mark, the whole novel flips. Lock is working for the Feybi family now and Ember is kidnapped to marry the Feybi heir and framed for murder to ensure she stays. Here’s where it drives me even more nuts. Ember is scared to get more people killed if she warns her brother, and I understand that from a character perspective. But she knows who her brother is, and in the safety of his own compound, where the Feybis are definitely not able to get in, she has to know that he would win against them. At the very least, be able to destroy the evidence or pay people off to ignore the evidence and her impending jail time. Later in the novel, she even gets an opportunity to leave with her brother when he crashes a party. I do understand that in that moment it would have been very dangerous since he was outnumbered, but maybe try? What I also don’t understand is how he was able to walk right in? Despite all Feybi’s insane security, he manages to slip in somehow.
The kidnapping of Ember initially was so messy in my opinion. They kill a guard, take her, kill their own man and frame her for his murder, before sending her back on her way with threats. The next day they contact her and tell her to dress hot because she’s meeting her future fiancee, if all goes well. So she does that. The first thing they do is decide she is not showing enough cleavage and give her to a paid brothel to get her ready...again. But the brothel does not stick her in more revealing clothing in the end for their reasons. So it seemed like new dress, heels, and more makeup when she was already 50% there when she got herself ready. Then when she is brought to meet the heir, he agrees to be with her, and they send her home on her way immediately. All that work for 30 seconds of viewing time. It seemed like a big production for nothing. Maybe host a dinner and force her to sit and that’s where she is shown off to the son? Make it seem like more of a production then: “here is a pretty girl”
“Yes”
“Girl, go home”
Not like they don’t have money and like their parties.
Her time with the son was a little heartwarming. He tried to protect her from his father. Also, from when he brought in the tutor for her, I suspected his secret. Glad to see I was right, and it did explain a bit.
What also bothers me, is when Lock and Ember see each other stuck there, she does not use this to her advantage. They’re watched all the time, but at one point, she drags him into a club bathroom to make out with him. Fear of getting him killed hits again, and she takes off. Was that not the perfect time to admit the truth to him?! Instead, poor Lock is stuck watching her look happy and engaged, while assuming she does not want to be there. But with every snuggle up to the son, it makes him second-guess that claim. So he is stuck figuring it out on his own.
In this second half, Lock becomes the character I initially expected, while not losing any of that sweetness from earlier. He becomes a bit harder, partly because he is jealous, and partly because he needs to ensure they both stay alive. I like him in this second half though. He’s a smart character and worked with what he had in the moment. I liked his chapters over Ember’s.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the story itself. I think I just wished for a bit more from it.
The first 40% of the book is in one direction, while the rest is in the other. The first bit focuses on learning who Ember and Lock is and their interactions, and thus falling in love. They meet when Lock causes trouble with a rival gang and ends up going through the window of a pizza place that Ember and her guards are eating. Once Lock is all fixed up, he goes looking for the beautiful mystery girl and from then on, they meet and start a sort of romance.
Lock was not the character I was expecting, not from the teasers nor the type of stories these books are. In fact, how he acted, especially around Ember, he seemed more like a 17-year-old to me rather than a 18/19-year-old. Besides that though, he is very sweet. For a while it seemed like this should be a cutesy contemporary romance novel. I was enjoying it, it just was not expected for these novels.
Ember drove me nuts. I found her 2D and very whiny and bratty. I understand how her brother’s protection would be annoying when it is overboard, but there are times that she dismisses him when she really should not. If she understands who he is and how is perceived by others, maybe, just maybe, she should listen to him. I mean, he is not a complete tyrant; he let her date Lock. Mind you, they were always followed, but not too closely, and they were not there to stop kissing or anything; just to protect her from danger. So as crazy as Nix was sometimes, even he pulled back.
Then around the 40% mark, the whole novel flips. Lock is working for the Feybi family now and Ember is kidnapped to marry the Feybi heir and framed for murder to ensure she stays. Here’s where it drives me even more nuts. Ember is scared to get more people killed if she warns her brother, and I understand that from a character perspective. But she knows who her brother is, and in the safety of his own compound, where the Feybis are definitely not able to get in, she has to know that he would win against them. At the very least, be able to destroy the evidence or pay people off to ignore the evidence and her impending jail time. Later in the novel, she even gets an opportunity to leave with her brother when he crashes a party. I do understand that in that moment it would have been very dangerous since he was outnumbered, but maybe try? What I also don’t understand is how he was able to walk right in? Despite all Feybi’s insane security, he manages to slip in somehow.
The kidnapping of Ember initially was so messy in my opinion. They kill a guard, take her, kill their own man and frame her for his murder, before sending her back on her way with threats. The next day they contact her and tell her to dress hot because she’s meeting her future fiancee, if all goes well. So she does that. The first thing they do is decide she is not showing enough cleavage and give her to a paid brothel to get her ready...again. But the brothel does not stick her in more revealing clothing in the end for their reasons. So it seemed like new dress, heels, and more makeup when she was already 50% there when she got herself ready. Then when she is brought to meet the heir, he agrees to be with her, and they send her home on her way immediately. All that work for 30 seconds of viewing time. It seemed like a big production for nothing. Maybe host a dinner and force her to sit and that’s where she is shown off to the son? Make it seem like more of a production then: “here is a pretty girl”
“Yes”
“Girl, go home”
Not like they don’t have money and like their parties.
Her time with the son was a little heartwarming. He tried to protect her from his father. Also, from when he brought in the tutor for her, I suspected his secret. Glad to see I was right, and it did explain a bit.
What also bothers me, is when Lock and Ember see each other stuck there, she does not use this to her advantage. They’re watched all the time, but at one point, she drags him into a club bathroom to make out with him. Fear of getting him killed hits again, and she takes off. Was that not the perfect time to admit the truth to him?! Instead, poor Lock is stuck watching her look happy and engaged, while assuming she does not want to be there. But with every snuggle up to the son, it makes him second-guess that claim. So he is stuck figuring it out on his own.
In this second half, Lock becomes the character I initially expected, while not losing any of that sweetness from earlier. He becomes a bit harder, partly because he is jealous, and partly because he needs to ensure they both stay alive. I like him in this second half though. He’s a smart character and worked with what he had in the moment. I liked his chapters over Ember’s.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the story itself. I think I just wished for a bit more from it.