February 2020 – Love is Love Reviews

Review: Three of Hearts by Stephanie Park

Great novella with a trans main character. The blurb really didn’t do this novella justice.

5 out of 5 stars

Kindle Edition. 92 pages. Published June 15^th 2019 by JMS Books LLC

Blurb:

Noah likes people watching, so when he notices a cute gay couple who don’t seem to have a reflection, he’s fascinated. They can’t actually be vampires, can they?

As he learns more about the enthralling pair, he soon discovers his wild suspicion is more than correct. But Noah is hiding a secret of his own, and how could two men from decades or even centuries in the past possibly care, possibly understand, when they discover Noah wasn’t always Noah?

That first hurdle is only the beginning, though. But Jack and Gabe are immortal vampires, so it’s hardly surprising Noah isn’t the only one who has a troublesome past.

Likes:

A trans main character.
All the characters.
The plot.
The vampire’s reaction to being found out.
All the little bumps along the way.
Good smut.

Dislikes:

The blurb doesn’t do the book justice.
I wanted more.

This is the first longer story I’ve read with a trans main character. I think Park did a wonderful job with Noah’s character. Yes, he’s trans, but there’s more to him than just that. Noah is a great main character on his own terms, and I enjoyed reading about him, Gabe, and Jack.

Noah’s excitement at finding the vampires felt very real, in a millennial reaction sort of way. And Gabe and Jack’s fear at being found out was understandable. I liked that it took a bit for the relationships to get off the ground. It felt more realistic than just falling into bed, especially considering Noah’s gender dysphoria and the fact that there were three of them.

There were bumps along the road to working out their physical and emotional relationships. Bumps that worked well with the story. Everyone had their own issues. But in the end, they were able to be happy together.

The drama with Jack’s past added a nice bit of drama. It had just the right bit of danger, as well as a satisfying ending. Best of all, it brought the men closer together. I would absolutely have read a full novel about this trio, or even a sequel to the novella.

Review: Hair of the Dog by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James

Hooked me fast. Good world building, with a perfect balance of romance and mystery.

5 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 250 pages. Published January 23rd 2012 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

It’s nine o’clock the morning after his father’s funeral, and Ezra Jones already knows it’s going to be a bad day. He wakes up hungover, sore, and covered in blood. Then it gets worse: the handsome and compelling Callum Dawson shows up on his doorstep claiming Ezra’s been turned into a werewolf. Ezra wants to be skeptical, but the evidence is hard to ignore.

Ezra doesn’t have a lot of time to get used to the rules Alpha Callum imposes—or the way his body responds to Callum’s dominance—as he’s busily working for the CDC to help uncover the origins of a lycan epidemic. When the sexual tension finally breaks, Ezra barely has time to enjoy it, because a new danger threatens. Someone wants Ezra for their own unscrupulous purposes and will do anything to get him.

Likes:

Hooked me fast.
Smart alpha.
Good main characters.
Good side characters.
World building.
Villains I can hate.
Working for the CDC.
Power imbalance was addressed.
Mystery and romance were well-balanced.
Hot smut.

Dislikes:

Callum was given Ezra’s psych evals.
Callum had no coping mechanisms.
Little time spent in lycan form.

I picked up this book because I was interested to see what a standalone lycan book would be like. Most werewolf/wolf shifter books are series. I love world building, and that usually takes time away from the romance. And this book had both a romance and a villain with an evil plan.

To my surprise and delight, this book was very well written, with everything in balance. The romance progressed naturally, there was plenty of world building, and the mystery of who was behind the epidemic was played out fully. I was very impressed.

The book hooked me fast. By 5% I was invested. I know I’m enjoying a book when I tell myself I have to stop reading and go do something else, but then I keep reading anyway. This book was like that. The lycans were different enough that it was fun learning about them. I loved that their Alphas were democratically elected. I also loved that Callum was smart, with a PhD, and he worked for the CDC. Smart is sexy, and it made me like Callum.

Ezra was a great character too. He felt like he didn’t have much agency at the very beginning, because everything was happening to him and he didn’t have a say in it. Then he got his backbone back. I liked that, while he enjoyed Callum’s dominance during sex, it was “disconcerting outside the bedroom”. The men had a huge power imbalance, and it was nice that they were both aware of it and worked to make sure they were on a more equal footing.

However, Callum’s lack of coping mechanisms bothered me. He was stressed and sleep deprived and leaking pheromones like a broken faucet. The guy needed a way to handle that, and sadly he didn’t have any sort of system in place. You’d think he would, given that being pack Alpha is stressful. I also didn’t like that he was given Ezra’s psych evaluation. That felt like a huge breach of privacy. Didn’t matter that Callum was the Alpha.

I have as high of standards for villains as I do main characters. I want villains who I can really hate. This book nailed the evil villain, both with what he did and why he did it. The other side characters were also fun, especially the two FBI agents.

If I have one major complaint, it was that the characters weren’t in lycan form much. There was one shifting scene, when Ezra shifts for the first time. That was basically it for the main characters. It’s a glaring point for a book about lycans. Most of what differentiated them from normal humans was the pheromones and the pack structure.

I would have gladly read more books if this had been a series. As it was, I was happy with it as a standalone.

Camp H.O.W.L. – Series Review

The concept of the camp itself was great, but the conflict in all three books was very similar. Not a good series to binge read.

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Books include:

Camp H.O.W.L. – 3 stars
Under a Blue Moon – 4 stars
Hiding in Plain Sight – 4 stars

Likes:

The whole idea of Camp H.O.W.L.
The focus on dealing with modern problems facing the supernatural community.
The different types of mate bonds.
That mate bonds don’t force the characters to do things. The characters retain their free will and get to choose to accept the bonds or not.
The characters – some more than others.
Low angst, easy reads.

Dislikes:

The conflict in all three books was similar. All internal issues that people needed to get over or deal with and move on.
The transitory nature of Camp H.O.W.L. and how two out of three of the couples left at the end of their books.
The lack of world building.
The lack of solid info on what made these werewolves unique from other author’s werewolves.
The general lack of sex scenes.
Stubborn characters who were almost too stubborn.
Romances that didn’t feel like they’d been paced right.

Hands down, my favorite part of this series was the whole idea of a camp for werewolf teens who were human before the Turn and are experiencing what it’s like to be a werewolf for the first time. It’s not just about the physical changes they’re going through, but how they’re going to have to act once they leave. The issues surrounding social media and keeping the supernatural community a secret were great.

I love how Adrian’s late in life Turn introduced the reader to the camp without having a barely legal love interest. On the other hand, having one of the characters in each book be a counselor/psychologist is just another thing that made the books feel a little too similar.

The plots and main characters were all interesting, but not all were used to the best effect. Book one’s plot sagged and the characters didn’t develop while Nick from book two was overly stubborn. Book three had a good balance and hit all the right notes but would have been better with some angst.

I felt like all of the books could have been tweaked a little to make them better in one way or another. But most importantly, for a series, the books were all very similar in theme. All of the books had:

One member of the couple who wanted to get together and one who fought it.
The reason one member fought the bond was because of something internal. Something they had to get over or come to terms with.
One member of the couple who refused to acknowledge the bond existed at all.
One member of the couple was a psychologist.
At least one member of the couple who worked at the camp.

Of course there were other similarities, like most of them being werewolves and having a reason to be at the camp. Those reasons make sense for the series. But the romance aspect of each book felt like different versions of the same theme. There are plenty of reasons two people can’t be together, and not all of them have to do with past trauma, stubbornness, and work.

What I think my biggest complaint about this series is, is that we don’t get to see the pack life. I felt a little bit like I was fumbling to understand some of the issues that showed up because I didn’t have a solid grounding in the world these characters grew up in. Some of it was explained or hinted at, but the story lacked an overall richness that some good, solid world building could have helped.

Review: Hiding in Plain Sight (Camp H.O.W.L. #3) by Bru Baker

My favorite book in the series. A good way to end things.

4 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 256 pages. Published September 18th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb: Harris has been keeping a big secret for years—his unrequited mate bond with his best friend, Jackson. He’s convinced himself that having Jackson in his life is enough. That, and his work at Camp H.O.W.L., keeps him going.

Things get complicated when Jackson applies for a high-ranking Tribunal job in New York City—far from Camp H.O.W.L. The position requires he relinquish all Pack bonds… and that’s when his wolf decides to choose a mate. Suddenly Jackson sees his best friend in a sizzling new light.

Their chemistry is through the roof, but they’re setting themselves up for broken hearts—and broken bonds—if Jackson can’t figure out a way to balance his career and the love that’s just been waiting for him to take notice.

Likes:

Both Harris and Jackson are interesting characters in their own way.
Expanded world building.
The subplot was interesting.
The romance moved at a more natural pace.

Dislikes:

I was expecting more angst.
Another set of characters whose problems stem from their own inability to deal with reality.
Another ending that uses violence as a way to force the romance forward.

It’s finally time for Harris’s story. He’s been a side character from book one, and the second book in the series hinted heavily at his feelings toward Jackson. I was a little surprised, and pleased, at the racial inclusion, when Harris was identified as being non-white. But since this is the first time that it’s been brought up in all the books I can’t help but wonder if it was decided on just for this book. It also wasn’t a big part of his identity in any substantive way.

This was probably my favorite book in the series. The first two books just didn’t hit the right romance notes that I’m used to. This one does. From the characters being equally interesting to the romance progressing at a good pace, all of the technical details were there. Not to mention the friends to lovers story working really well.

I loved the premise of the story. Honestly, I was hoping for some good angst, which turned out not to be there because the unrequited mate bond had existed for two years by the time the story began. So Harris was totally used to it. Which made the unrequited mate bond feel more like an unacknowledged mate bond, and that’s exactly what the last two books have been about.

This book did have the couple be equally interesting, Harris with both his work at Camp H.O.W.L. and his feeling for Jackson, and Jackson with his job and awakening feelings for Harris. Their relationship also progressed at a better pace than the other books, with actual on the page sex! Not only that, but sex that was important to the plot. Plus, once the two got together, there was no hot and cold. They both liked each other, with Jackson’s job being the fulcrum trying to tear them apart.

I was a little surprised that neither of them told the other about knowing the mate bond was forming. This book did have its instances where assumptions and lack of communication were driving the plot.

And the incident at the end felt reminiscent of the danger Drew was in at the end of the previous book. I understand that the introduction of the Fey was a part of the overall subplot, but it felt disconnected from the romance. Like the romance would have been fine without it.

And speaking of the Fey, while I liked the expansion of the supernatural world this series is set in, it felt a little like it had been tossed in because it worked for the plot, not because it had been there the entire time. I’ve felt from the beginning of this series that it was intended to be a standalone that was expanded into a series, and that major world building had not been done in advance. So whatever world building showed up was just there because it was convenient to have it. And I don’t know for sure if that’s true or not with how the books were written, but for me to even think that might be the case means it wasn’t done well.

I am glad that this is the last book in the series because I don’t know if I would have read much more. I may pick up some of Bru Baker’s other standalone books to see what they’re like. I don’t know if I’d pick up the new series mentioned at the end of this book, focusing on pack life and not on the camp. It might be a great way to get all of the details I felt were missing from the Camp H.O.W.L. series.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Camp H.O.W.L., Under a Blue Moon, and the series review.

Review: Under a Blue Moon (Camp H.O.W.L #2 ) by Bru Baker

Better than the last. Drew was a good character, but Nick could be a massive asshole.

4 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 228 pages. Published June 19th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Once in a blue moon, opposites find they’re a perfect match.

Nick Perry is tired of helping people with their marriages, so when a spot opens up to work with teens at Camp H.O.W.L., he jumps at it. He doesn’t expect to fall in lust with the dreamy new camp doctor, Drew Welch. But Drew is human, and Nick has seen secrets ruin too many relationships to think that a human/werewolf romance can go anywhere.

Happy-go-lucky Drew may not sprout claws, but he’s been part of the Were community all his life. He has no trouble fitting in at the camp—except for Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the growing attraction between them and his ridiculous stance on dating humans. Fate intervenes when one of his private practice patients threatens Drew’s life. Will the close call help Nick to see a connection like theirs isn’t something to let go of?

Likes:

Drew’s character.
A little more world building.
A different kind of couple from the last book.
Nick getting a taste of rejection near the end.
Really set up the romance for the third book.

Dislikes:

How long it took Nick to admit to what he was feeling.
How much of an asshole Nick could be.
The trop of ‘one night stand turns out to be new work colleague’
It didn’t feel like Nick was a psychologist.

I definitely liked this book better than the last, because the romance was much more developed. It was another romance where the only thing stopping the couple from getting together was themselves, but there was a lot more flirting and little moments that made it clear how much they were falling for each other.

The book started out with the trop of having a one night stand with someone who turns out to be a new coworker, which isn’t a trope I really enjoy because I feel like it’s so overdone. But it worked for the story. Dew and Nick have chemistry right from the start, although the actual sex scene happened off the page. But the blowjob was written about, and again at the end, so maybe Bru Baker just doesn’t like writing penetrative sex scenes?

Drew was definitely my favorite character. As a human living among werewolves, he’s constantly at a disadvantage, same as Adrian from the first book. In fact, there is mention that Drew and Adrian are friends because they were both part of the small number of humans living with werewolves, which was nice. I always like seeing little hints of previous couples in series romance.

Drew didn’t let his status as a human keep him from being able to deal with werewolves, a fact that Nick just couldn’t seem to understand. And I’m honestly not sure why Nick was so completely convinced that Drew was incapable of certain things just because he was a human. The book stated that humans living with werewolves was a rare thing, and that while Nick had dealt with a lot of humans in his private psychology business, he’d never known a human who had grown up with werewolf step-brothers. I get that he thought that Drew could never understand him fully since Drew is human and Nick is a werewolf, but do two people ever fully understand each other?

There was actually a time when I got completely disgusted with how much of an asshole Nick was being, when he doubted that Drew could set up a werewolf scavenger hunt. Nick had no reason to doubt Drew’s abilities. He just had these preconceptions that he couldn’t let go. It was almost too much. It takes Nick half of the book (51%) to admit that Drew isn’t some helpless human.

I have to admit, mean person that I am, that I liked it when Nick thought Drew wasn’t interested in him anymore. For all the trouble that Nick caused Drew throughout the book it was nice to see Nick feel like he was rejected.

I actually kept forgetting that Nick was a psychologist because he just didn’t seem like one. He even acknowledged a few times that he was not doing the things he’d tell a patient to do. This was in direct contrast to Drew, who I never forgot was a doctor.

Despite all my complaints (mainly about Nick’s bullheadedness) I really liked this couple. Once things begin to heat up between them, the story really gets going. I was glad to see them get together in the end and look forward to seeing a bit of them in the next book. Drew is Jackson’s step brother, and since Jackson is one of the main characters in the next book, I hope we’ll get to see a bit of how Drew and Nick are together. Unlike Tate and Adrian, Drew and Nick are staying at Camp H.O.W.L.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Camp H.O.W.L., Hiding in Plain Sight, and the series review.

Review: Camp H.O.W.L. (Camp H.O.W.L. #1 ) by Bru Baker

Loved the concept of the camp, but the slow burn romance was too slow for me.

3 out of 5 stars

Ebook. Dreamspun Beyond #7. 238 pages. Published November 1st 2017 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Moonmates exist, but getting together is going to be a beast….

When Adrian Rothschild skipped his “werewolf puberty,” he assumed he was, somehow, human. But he was wrong, and he’s about to go through his Turn with a country between him and his Pack—scared, alone, and eight years late.

Dr. Tate Lewis’s werewolf supremacist father made his Turn miserable, and now Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L. to ease the transition for young werewolves. He isn’t expecting to offer guidance to a grown man—or find his moonmate in Adrian. Tate doesn’t even believe in the legendary bond; after all, his polygamist father claimed five. But it’s clear Adrian needs him, and if Tate can let his guard down, he might discover he needs Adrian too.

A moonmate is a wolf’s missing piece, and Tate is missing a lot of pieces. But is Adrian up to the challenge?

Likes:

The focus on helping kids manage the Turn and the talk about how to navigate social media without revealing the secret of werewolves to humans.
Adrian’s life as someone who didn’t Turn when he should have and his trouble adjusting to it as an adult.
The plot of the first half of the book.
That Adrian and Tate didn’t immediately fall in love despite being moonmates.
The whole idea of moonmates being a different thing from those who just have a strong bond.
Camp H.O.W.L. itself was an interesting concept.

Dislikes:

The slow burn romance was too slow.
The plot of the last third of the book was slow.
There was no substantial character development for either Adrian or Tate.
Lots of missed opportunities to make the story better as a whole.
Tate’s aversion to being moonmates was a bit over the top.
No conclusion about why Adrian didn’t Turn when he was nineteen and no real talk about how or if he will continue to be different from other werewolves going forward.

The premise of this book is great. Adrian is the prefect character to introduce the readers to Camp H.O.W.L. As an adult, he is more clearheaded than any of the teens who are going through their Turn. He’s also just an interesting character. He spent eight years being different from his entire pack and family. It bothers him both because it makes him different from everyone he loves and because no one knows why it happened.

Tate is a less interesting character at the start, but he does have an unusual past. A past that prevents him from embracing the moonmate bond he quickly forms with Adrian.

I really did like that, although the bond formed quickly between Adrian and Tate, there was no rush into a relationship. They might be werewolves, but that wasn’t an excuse to jump into bed. Unfortunately, Tate was so against having any kind of relationship or bond with Adrian that the romance throughout the whole book was lacking. The two men basically became friends and roommates who wanted to bone but didn’t.

Instead of the romance being two steps forward and one step back, it was more like Tate ran hot and cold. The first kiss – which didn’t happen until chapter 12 – was the only intimate moment I remember them sharing before they finally got together at the end. And even then there was no penetrative sex, which wouldn’t have been a problem except that I felt like full sex would have had more of an emotional impact. Their quick mutual masturbation just didn’t have the intimacy the story needed.

And that’s the crux of what I felt was missing from this story – intimacy. It was great that they didn’t jump into sex, but there weren’t nearly as many little flirty moments where you could tell their feelings for each other were growing.

Tate’s hang-ups with his family seemed to affect his relationship with Adrian to an unusually high degree. Tate was able to separate himself from his former pack in every other way, rejecting their teachings because he knew it was wrong. Except when it came to being moonmates with Adrian. Even when Tate finally embraced their bond, it was only after telling Adrian his great secret, which didn’t seem like it was that big of a deal. The secret wasn’t something Tate did or even something bad that happened to him. It was just another example of how messed up his pack and their way of life was.

Overall, I did enjoy this book when I was reading it. It was only after reaching the end that I noticed how little the romance and characters had progressed. The epilogue did have some of those little intimate touches that added to the romance overall, but I was still left vaguely unsatisfied. Adrian didn’t even get the chance to be with his family’s pack as a werewolf.

I will definitely be reading the next book in the series because I really did love the idea of Camp H.O.W.L, especially the focus on teaching the teens how to navigate social media without revealing their furry bits.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Under a Blue Moon, Hiding in Plain Sight, and the series review.

Review: Bro Job: MM Erotic Romance Novella by B.J. Wood

Hot smut, but both men lack depth.

3 out of 5 stars

Kindle Unlimited. 68 pages. Published February 3, 2020

Blurb:

Talk about taking friendship to the next level!

Logan and Cade have been best friends since childhood. Now, they work side-by-side as park rangers during the day, and at night, they pick up girls together. When they both strike out at a bar, drunk and desperate, they end up having a one-night-stand neither will ever forget.

There’s no going back now that Logan and Cade have slept together. They can deny their feelings as much as they want, but they can’t ignore the fuse that has sparked between them. Things are going to explode one way or another.

As their small town sets up for Valentine’s Day, the cardboard hearts and flowers remind Logan and Cade of everything they could have together… If they weren’t straight. Because straight guys don’t bone their best friends. Even if they really, really want to.

Bro Job is a 20,000 word gay erotic romance novella about two straight friends who become gay lovers. There is no cheating or cliffhanger, and there is a happy ending. This book features explicit gay sex scenes, including mild exhibitionism and voyeurism.

Likes:

Hot smut.
Friends to lovers.
Short.

Dislikes:

Both men lack depth.
The story is missing a lot of detail.
Drunk sex.
Unsafe sex.
The men feel dumb but I know they’re not.

I chose this novella because I wanted something short and sweet. I like friends to lovers stories, and the basic plot of this novella was classic. Two guys who’ve been ignoring the ‘more than friends’ vibe they’ve got going, finally get to a point where they can’t ignore it anymore.

I don’t love that they were drunk during their first time. For starters, drunk people can’t give consent. Second, it leads to risky sex practices, like the lack of condom. Despite that, the sex was hot, even if it always took place in unusual locations.

As for the men themselves, they lacked depth. I don’t feel like I got to know them. I also didn’t understand the reasoning behind a lot of their decisions, worries, and actions. Neither man was stupid, but there were times when they felt incredibly dumb. Like ‘fraternity boy who cheated on his SATs’ dumb.

Part of this has to do with the writing. There was a lot of inconsistency with the men and whether they were really straight or not. I couldn’t tell if they honestly thought they were straight or were choosing to ignore how much they thought about each other in sexual ways. This led to a lot of ‘I’m totally straight except for thinking about kissing my best friend, getting horny around him, and staring at his ass.’ That got annoying fast.

Both men are resistant to the idea of being anything other than straight. But I have no idea why. Is it a masculinity issue? Are they worried about what people will think? It’s not discussed. I know they live in a small town, but later in the book there’s reference to a lesbian couple and it’s treated like it’s no big thing.

Overall, I’m unimpressed. This wasn’t a bad read, especially for how short it was, but there are better novellas out there. Not sure if I’d go back to this author.

Review: The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings (Black and Blue #1) by Lily Morton

So glad I picked this book up. Everything was so well woven together that the romance was perfectly paced and natural.

5 out of 5 stars

Kindle Unlimited. 301 pages. Published November 14th 2019

Blurb:

Levi Black is at a crossroads. After suffering a loss and breaking up a long-term relationship, he’s looking for a change. When he receives the news he’s inherited a house in York, he seizes the opportunity to begin a new chapter in his life.

However, when he gets there, he finds a house that has never kept its occupants for very long. Either through death or disinclination, no one stays there, and after a few days of living in the place, Levi can understand why. Strange noises can be heard at all hours of the day and night, and disturbing and scary things begin to happen to him. He never believed in ghosts before, but when events take a sinister turn, he knows he must look for help. He finds it in the unlikely form of the blue-haired leader of a ghost tour.

Blue Billings is edgy, beautiful, and lost. Utterly lost. He conceals so many secrets that some days it’s a miracle he remembers his own name. He knows that he should ignore Levi because he threatens the tenuous grip Blue has on survival. But there’s something about the kind-eyed man that draws Blue to him. Something that demands he stay and fight for him when he would normally run in the opposite direction.

As the two men investigate the shocking truth behind Levi’s house, they also discover a deep connection that defies the short length of time they’ve known each other. But when events escalate and his life is on the line, Levi has to wonder if it was wise to trust the Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings.

Likes:

Creepy house without being too scary.
Hooked me.
Loved the entire cast of characters.
Epilogue made me happy.
Difficult subjects handled well.
The romance progressed naturally.

Dislikes:

Blue didn’t make a great first impression.
First person present tense gave me a bit of trouble at first.
Some of the mystery behind the ghost was obvious.

I honestly wasn’t looking for a supernatural themed book when I stumbled on this one. It was literally the first book I came across that piqued my interest. And I’m so glad I picked it up, because I loved it.

Strangely enough, the book didn’t hook me right from page one. The beginning was interesting, but the real hook for me didn’t come until a bit later. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but I realized I was deeply invested around the 12% area.

This book had the perfect amount of creepy ghosts without verging into scary territory. I don’t do scary. I was a little worried at first that things would get too scary or gory. There is some gore, but not a lot. And there are some tense/scary moments, but nothing that’s going to give me nightmares.

The haunting and romance were so finely interwoven that there was enough time to develop the relationship at a natural pace and to deal with the ghosts without anything feeling rushed. The book was wrapped up well. I smiled my way through the epilogue. It was definitely a HFN and I hope the next book in the series will be about Levi and Blue again. I would love to see more of them.

Levi and Blue were both great characters. Blue didn’t make the best first impression, but he quickly recovered. In fact, the entire cast of characters was great, especially Tom. I appreciated that the difficult subjects in Blue’s past were handled well, without judgement or condemnation.

I’m not used to seeing first person point of view combined with present tense narration. It gave me some issues at first, but I was quickly able to adjust. I appreciate that both Blue and Levi got POV chapters. It added depth to the story.

The mystery in the book was both obvious and a source of suspense. Even thought I guessed a lot of what was going on, the ending still managed to surprise me. I was a little disappointed when the book ended. I want more, and am eager for the next book in the series!