I freaking loved this! And I definitely wasn’t expecting that. I just wanted to give Penelope Douglas another chance.
I’m not even sure I can really explain why it worked for me. The audio book contributed I think. I plan on buying a physical copy and the audio for future reads.
The angst was probably a huge part of my enjoyment. I am not always on board for angsty stories, but when they work-they work. Ms. Douglas paced it really well. Sometimes the angst is so high that I feel like I’m getting figurative blue balls, This didn’t have that.
I liked both Ryen and Misha. He was more your standard New Adult romance hero, but he was pretty well done. My heart really hurts for him. Ryen was a little different, but not in a “not like other girls” way. She’s very fake and does tons of unlikable things, but it works. Ms. Douglas did a really good job of showing why Ryen acts the way she does. It felt very real and raw.
I really liked the romance. There’s a friends-to-lovers element, but it’s also enemies-to-lovers. There’s a big chunk where Misha knows Ryen, but not the other way around. It’s got a lying by omission element. I’m typically not a huge fan, but it worked pretty well for me here. The pacing, again, was great. It sounds kind of raunchy, but she would build the tension, release, build, release, etc. for maximum enjoyment. I was a little weirded out by reading explicit sex scenes with high schoolers. THey’re both 18 and no shade to Ms. Douglas, but it was still odd for me. That’s definitely just a personal thing.
Then, there’s the friendships. Some of them are toxic (and are supposed to be). Others are actually really positive. It wasn’t a huge part of the story, but I appreciated it.
This was just such a happy surprise of a book. I will definitely keep trying Penelope Douglas after this.
Thanks for reading!
Holly