I knew before opening the cover I was going to love this because, well, it’s Sarah MacLean. And I did. There were a few issues I had with it but there were also some things I absolutely loved that made up for it.
I really wasn’t terribly interested in Sesily’s story before and boy was I wrong. This is quite possibly my favorite one yet, and I am so hyped for the ones that will follow. Especially Imogen’s story XD.
Previously she has written about groups of (mostly) men and the women they fall in love with. Which is great, but this is so much better. A group of women this time, and at that a group of women who have a greater purpose and, I expect, will dominate the storyline.
There are many things that are very familiar from her previous novels: the slightly overwritten writing, the perhaps-too-frequent sex scenes (but you can’t skip them because they also advance the plot) that are dominated by oral sex, and most importantly, the man who falls in love despite himself and fights it every step of the way despite the woman spending the entire novel trying to show him that he doesn’t have to. That part does grow a bit old, even though she consistently brings the heartwrenching scene of despair and the joyful reuinion and plays my emotions perfectly every time.
But there were new things too, and I’m so exicted about them. I adore the Hell’s Belles. It’s a terribly clever name, but mostly it’s a group of women who work together in the shadows to bring down corrupt and evil men when society chooses to look away and ignore their crimes. And then men just sort of flail in their wake.
I can’t wait to read Adelaide’s story, for it is sure to be fabulous, but I really can’t wait for Imogen’s. She’ll have him wrapped around her finger before he knows what’s hit him. Possibly literally.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for providing an e-arc for review.
Whimsical Dragonette 