A Review
Sadia and Jackson. Everyone in the romance blogging community is loving this book right now. I had heard so many people say it was their favorite romance of 2017, so I was excited to start it almost as soon as I finished the first book in the series. I loved Sadia as a heroine. She was strong, independent, and realistic. Not to mention such a hard worker and compassionate mother and friend. Unfortunately I found Jackson to be, in the respect of complete honesty, boring. Not even as a hero but also as a character, he just seemed to fall flat for me. I could see he was repressing feelings, but there was no spark, really nothing to him that lit up the page for me.
Overall I found the romance aspect of the story to be dull and muted. What saved the book for me in terms of overall experience was the side plot of Sadia and her sisters. The dynamic of the familial pressure was something that is so relatable, and Alisha Rai touched on it in such an endearing and expressive way. I also enjoyed reading about the idea of someone admitting to guilt for something after they were already gone, and the aftermath of the people who were alive coming to terms with that anger and disappointment. (SPOILER) Even Jackson’s response to his older brothers confessions was dull, in my opinion. But it was interesting to see how Sadia dealt with her reactions to her late husbands mistakes and the ultimate choice she made to move on.
I do love the greater world and complex histories Alisha Rai has set up for the characters in this series. I think there is something about this book that held back punches, maybe it was just because I read them back to back and the first novel was so expressive and passionate. This story lacked the wild emotion of the first one. Maybe that was dependent solely on the characters it focused on and whether or not I liked them, but I look forward to reading the third installment. I hope to adore Eve and Gabe’s story more!
4 stars
Thanks for reading,
Em Xx
