Liz Loves Books
I love to read and to talk about books. I review many of the books I read. I do not accept any author/publisher submissions for reviews. I do not read or review ARCs. I do not enter any giveaways or contests. I obtain the books I review by purchasing them at the same price they are offered to the general public at the time of purchase. My reviews are intended for the use of my fellow readers. They are not advertising or promotion. They are not beta reads or constructive criticism or editing or advice to the author. My only obligation to the author is to pay the price charged for the book at the time of purchase. My reviews are sometimes critical and I will not stop posting critical reviews just to spare delicate authors' feelings. I am happy to make new friends, but friend requests from authors or promoters who have few or no books (and/or friends) in common with me and write or promote categories I do not read (especially new adult) will be ignored. I used to read more self-published books. After recent meltdowns by self-published authors, I now only read self-published authors I've previously read or who have been recommended to me by fellow readers I trust. I also used to read young adult/new adult books but rarely do so now.
I enjoyed this but I wasn't wowed by it. I was never really able to connect with Zach or become invested in Rori's relationship with him. Still, I liked the story well enough and the love scenes are very hot.I knew going in that there was a sequel in which Rori was in a relationship with Jude, so I think I never allowed myself to become emotionally invested in Zach. He was obviously a goner in some way from the minute he walked into Mary's and met up with Becky and Rori. The Hawaii trip forshadows his eventual demise a little too well so I spent a big chunk of the book just waiting for him to die. Ick. Had I not known there was a sequel, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more. I love love love shibari and Zach's expertise in that area (and Ms. Dane's excellent descriptions of it) would have made him more likeable to me. Though he seemed to be treating their relationship as a 24/7 TPE (despite averring he was not) and Rori was clearly not on board with that. This both made it even more obvious he'd be out of the picture soon enough and made me care even less about him. Communication is key!