kfriend 's review for:

Deity by Sheridan Anne
5.0

Sheridan Anne has always been a writer committed to her characters- and while I know many love her stories because of the soapy drama, wild twists, and her increasingly hotter steam, I’ve always appreciated her character writing the most. So, it's not surprising to me that she took to reverse harem like a fish to water, because reverse harem, more so than any other romance trope/genre, is made or broken on character development. To write a truly compelling harem, a story where there are more than two character focal points, all of the characters need depth, need a clear purpose and role, need emotional complexity and vulnerability, and most importantly, they all need chemistry with each other. And while action reigned supreme in some legs of this journey (particularly book 3), Sheridan brought it full circle where the characters, and their complicated but engrossing connection to each other, is the true focus. The true heart of the story. Ultimately, Sheridan has taken what I love about her MF character writing and amplified it here in Boys of Winters- how she writes unapologetically flawed, strong willed, compellingly broken and dynamic souls that have just enough vulnerability for us to connect with them.

Each of our guys play an important role - in this story, and in their relationship with Winter. And Sheridan dials up the head- meow. Carver, King, Cruz, and Grayson have such a fascinating energy- as a group and as individuals- a force to match the strength of our heroine Winter. And after the end of book3, I felt like these knuckleheads owed me some explaining. But trust in SA, answers are coming, and the men will prove who is worthy. But truly, the star is Winter- this is her series after all. She’s Sheridan Anne’s darkest, most unapologetic, grittiest heroine to date, and I just loved following her journey of discovering her past and finding her destiny. She’s a bad of contradictions- completely psychotic yet loving and compassionate in places, vulnerable but fierce, violent but kind, trigger happy but mature. It’s rare a heroine so dark and fierce can also demonstrate tenderness, and can also make me chuckle-but her snark always made me smile. She owns this story- as she should.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Sheridan Anne book without some unexpected action and jaw dropping twists. After the heart stopping finale of Book 3, I was both anxious and ready for Sheridan to blow my mind. There were a lot of loose threads, a lot of questions to answer and pieces of this story to resolve, and SA brings everything to a satisfying close. What a stellar first RH foray for this prolific writer- excited to see what is next!