Lisa

This book is romantic suspense. It has a decent plot. I wasn't surprised by the ending but there were enough other things going on that I wasn't able to narrow things down until the very end. It definitely sets up future books. What threw me off was the romance portion.

There are a lot of intimate scenes throughout the book and it's set up to be an important part of the main character's development but that development is never addressed. It felt like you could have removed them with almost zero change to the plot and character development. The scenes themselves are short with just a smidge more detail than if they were fade-to-black which is fine but seemed like an odd choice.

I'd still recommend reading it for people who love romantic suspense.

This book is a great expansion on the character of Christian and Gianna. It does jump around in time which I wasn't sure I'd enjoy, but it's done in a way that's easy to follow. Nico and Elena appear throughout, and with the timeline you get to see more of what was going on around them. Christian is dark, fierce, protective, and mysterious. Gianna is optimistic, unique, strong and yet still soft.

I initially made the mistake of skipping this book after I finished The Sweetest Oblivion and regret it. This book was thoroughly enjoyable and I wish I had read it before The Darkest Temptation to fully appreciate the Christian/Gianna scenes in it.

Picks up right where the first book left off (on a massive cliffhanger). This book continues with Shiloh learning to live with her past and figuring out what she wants for her future. A lot spicier than the first book and more focus on the individual relationships between the four love interests.

I was so caught up in the last scene that I didn't realize I was at the end of the book. If you can't stand a cliffhanger you'll want to wait until the series is finished before you start. Otherwise you'll end up frantically googling the book 3 release date as soon as you're done like me.

If you love a man with protective instincts then this series is for you. Shiloh is learning to heal and move on from a traumatic past, and the four brothers next door offer her a safe space to do just that.
This book focuses primarily on building the relationships between characters with the WITSEC plot steadily woven throughout. It can feel juvenile at times but the main character is a senior in high school so that's to be expected.

Great if you're always looking for those moments where the love interest gets protective over the main character, will-they-or-won't-they romantic tension, and the nightmare trope.

This is a five star book for me but it won't be for everyone. This is an EXTEME slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, sports romance.

Sal is strong, confident, kind, and relatable in a way that many of Zapata's characters can be. Her inner monologue can read a little immature (lots of "everybody poops" thoughts) but she's still very likeable. Kulti passes grump and veers into asshole territory off and on but he doesn't always get away with it, and at the end of the day his heart is in the right place.

As someone who played soccer for a lot of years, I'm happy with the sports aspect of the story. It's present throughout and vital to the story while still leaving room for the romance to shine, and where the romance shines is in the collection of moments Zapata has given us. She really zeros in on the small, subtle ways people fall in love. You get everything, good or bad. Small and big. The building blocks of their relationship are all there waiting for you.

As someone who is a big fan of the "Mr. Darcy hand flex" this gave me the butterflies-in-my-stomach feeling I've chased since reading my first book romance.

This last reread was done with the new audiobook, and while initially skeptical both actors NAILED IT. I was particularly worried about Kulti's accent but I had zero complaints.

I'd recommend this to everybody. The banter is funny, the relationships between characters heartfelt, and watching things go from enemies to friends to lovers is satisfying. This is my favorite Mariana Zapata book.

I'm writing this review after many rereads so it's pretty biased.

Slow-burn, paranormal, romantic suspense.

This book is 10 years old now, so a few things feel dated but I think it still holds up. The paranormal aspect is very heavy and I think if you're already willing to read that you can overlook some of the unbelievability of other plot points.

Rachel and Mason are two very similar characters who both experience drastic, life changing, interconnected events. They end up investigating the same case while both trying to keep the other from learning their secrets.

The pacing is great, the dialogue flows really naturally, and although the tone of the writing can get a little cheesy sometimes I think it's a really strong paranormal, romantic suspense book. It's also worth noting it's a closed door, slow burn romance.

I'd recommend for an easy-to-read, slow burn, paranormal romance with the feel of a thriller.

(DNF) Wasn't for me, but will appeal to others.

There are YA books that easily bridge the gap to adult books and then there are YA books that feel young. This book feels young, despite containing adult themes.

The writing is very simple. There's not a lot of variety to the sentence structure and the descriptions of characters are very black and white . I felt like I was being spoon fed everyone's feelings and motivations instead of letting their actions speak for themselves.

It was giving me How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days vibes in that the two characters seemed to be working against each other while outwardly pretending otherwise. It didn't feel as serious as I would have expected despite hints at more serious topics appearing later in the book. I'm not qualified to speak for the plot overall as I didn't finish it.

Pros: It would probably be easy to read and there is some promising world building, so if you don't see a problem with my issues above it might be worth a try. But I would definitely recommend downloading a sample first to see if you vibe with the writing. I personally couldn't get past it, but maybe the plot would have pulled me in eventually.

As a whole this book gave the series a sense of closure but the story seemed rushed and flat. There are plenty of moments that rise to the peak of the series and I would absolutely still recommend reading it. However in many ways I was left wanting more. The cast of characters in this book is painfully small, with some familiar faces absent entirely. The plot feels a little light and a lot of what is set up early in the book is just dropped.

After I finished it I was content with the feeling that all was right in their world but hours later couldn't get past the many unanswered questions it left. Characters that were kidnapped are suddenly fine with no mention of what happened to them. Other characters receive new abilities that either never get used or are mentioned and dropped in the span of two sentences.

By far the weakest in the series.

This was an incredibly refreshing contemporary romance book. Jules lives in a retirement complex and the cast of older, quirky characters around her add so much humor and heart to the story. This book was a delight from start to finish, unexpected at times and consistently funny. Occasionally I read lines out loud to my husband (who did not care) because I was laughing out loud.

Highly recommend if you're looking for a romance with some mystery and a main character who is unabashedly herself, all wrapped up in a fun, sexy, and funny package.

This was exactly what I was looking for and I loved it for what it was: An easy to read, suspenseful series with a heavy focus on the romance and an intriguing (if light) plot.

Enemies-to-Lovers with mafia vibes. Honestly more romance than plot, but the plot that is there is interesting and provides a lot of opportunities for the love interests to get overly protective over the main character while still leaving her room to become stronger and more independent.

It won't give you an in depth story but it is absolutely a good time and I've gone back and re-read the series.

Throne of Glass offers a cast of complex characters in a unique, magical world. No one is ever truly good or evil and watching their stories interconnect as they move between the two will capture your interest. With 8 books, this series give you a chance to really dig in to these characters and their world.

Plenty of romance. Enemies-to-lovers. Fate. Destiny. Putting what's good for others above yourself. Forgiveness. War. Grief.

I honestly really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and a very solid entry to the romantic suspense genre. I would have easily rated it four stars except for one thing:

This book needs more editing.

The pacing is great. There's a heavier focus on the romance than the plot which I'm also fine with, but the book is filled with obvious typos, grammatical errors, and in some cases words missing entirely. I didn't mind much in the first half of the book but in the second half its happens to the point of being distracting.

This book works fine as a standalone.