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esimon23's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
punkchic37's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of my favorite books out of this entire series. It had the perfect balance of action, sexiness and emotion. This book more than any of the others point blank spells out exactly what makes the O'Kanes willing to lay down their lives for all the members of the gang!
Because by some inexplicable miracle, the leader of Sector Four cared.
Selling sex could make you rich, especially when you were as dedicated to your craft as Jeni had always been, but it couldn't get you the kind of raw affection the O'Kanes traded about like it was nothing.
Survival was important, necessary, but there were things beyond it. Even things more important, as perverse as that seemed. Every one of Dallas's people knew it, lived it. Breathed it. They were part of something bigger than themselves, a family that would live or die by their collective strength.
Jared after years of being a high in demand escort for the privileged ladies of Eden is willing to play a new roll for Dallas to ensure the safety of the few people he loves. He never planned on finding someone who could look past his mask and see the true him. His years of service has helped him learn exactly how to read people and help Lili emerge from her icy numbness but it has also helped earn him some very dangerous enemies.
Lili finally escaped a forced marriage as a child bride to her monster of a husband. After years of drugged numbness she has to learn to the scariness thing of all...to feel. She needs to learn who Lili is outside of sector 5 and the shadow of her father and husband. In the strong arms of Jared ( and sometimes others ) she learns where her strength lies and how to trust not only in others but in herself.
"You've been locked away." His voice was low, a little rough. "But now you're free--to be who you are, do what you want. Free to feel."
Power. The O'Kanes valued it, exchanged it. Effortlessly, casually, following rules Lili barely grasped and couldn't have appreciated before she understood she held it, too.
She was a goddamn diamond, formed under terrible pressure, as hard and unforgiving as the rock Logan had put on her finger.
Can Lili and Jared both learn to do the scariest thing of all and trust? Can they trust in themselves and the emotions they feel? Can they trust in each other to accept who they are with their faults? Can they trust in the O'Kanes to accept who they are and keep them safe in this dangerous shadowy half world they exist in between Sector 4 and Eden?
Using my 1-5 rating system of how many kleenex you need due to crying, how many times you need to change your panties, and how many asses you laugh off I give it:
2 Kleenex/4 panties/1 asses
****An advance reading copy of Beyond Innocence by Kit Rocha was generously provided to me in exchange for an honest review.****
Because by some inexplicable miracle, the leader of Sector Four cared.
Selling sex could make you rich, especially when you were as dedicated to your craft as Jeni had always been, but it couldn't get you the kind of raw affection the O'Kanes traded about like it was nothing.
Survival was important, necessary, but there were things beyond it. Even things more important, as perverse as that seemed. Every one of Dallas's people knew it, lived it. Breathed it. They were part of something bigger than themselves, a family that would live or die by their collective strength.
Jared after years of being a high in demand escort for the privileged ladies of Eden is willing to play a new roll for Dallas to ensure the safety of the few people he loves. He never planned on finding someone who could look past his mask and see the true him. His years of service has helped him learn exactly how to read people and help Lili emerge from her icy numbness but it has also helped earn him some very dangerous enemies.
Lili finally escaped a forced marriage as a child bride to her monster of a husband. After years of drugged numbness she has to learn to the scariness thing of all...to feel. She needs to learn who Lili is outside of sector 5 and the shadow of her father and husband. In the strong arms of Jared ( and sometimes others ) she learns where her strength lies and how to trust not only in others but in herself.
"You've been locked away." His voice was low, a little rough. "But now you're free--to be who you are, do what you want. Free to feel."
Power. The O'Kanes valued it, exchanged it. Effortlessly, casually, following rules Lili barely grasped and couldn't have appreciated before she understood she held it, too.
She was a goddamn diamond, formed under terrible pressure, as hard and unforgiving as the rock Logan had put on her finger.
Can Lili and Jared both learn to do the scariest thing of all and trust? Can they trust in themselves and the emotions they feel? Can they trust in each other to accept who they are with their faults? Can they trust in the O'Kanes to accept who they are and keep them safe in this dangerous shadowy half world they exist in between Sector 4 and Eden?
Using my 1-5 rating system of how many kleenex you need due to crying, how many times you need to change your panties, and how many asses you laugh off I give it:
2 Kleenex/4 panties/1 asses
****An advance reading copy of Beyond Innocence by Kit Rocha was generously provided to me in exchange for an honest review.****
alikatson's review
4.0
Oh this was good! I liked the development of the plot again. I really liked Lili, she was feisty! Jared was a good partner for her
I started liking Rachel more in this story again - I liked her in the first couple and just didn't feel her angst for awhile. I liked how she and other ladies befriended Lili, who I really felt for.
Spoiler
and I loved how they ended up being the perfect couple to run the bar in Eden!I started liking Rachel more in this story again - I liked her in the first couple and just didn't feel her angst for awhile. I liked how she and other ladies befriended Lili, who I really felt for.
Spoiler
and the hook-up with Rachel, Lili and their dudes was smoking hot...winterreader40's review
5.0
Jared has been a whore for the last 22 years and he's so tired of the game and feeling more lonely everyday because he doesn't feel anyone really knows him, not even himself anymore. Jared is one of Ace’s best friends, they grew up and trained together and he was secretly in love with him at one point but is very happy for him now that he has Rachel and Cruz.
Lili Fleming was brought up in fear inside Sector Five, she has been doped out of her mind for the last 5 years that she's been married(to a sociopath) and untouched by her husband(thankfully).
We get to watch her come down and learn how to feel things, she starts out terrified and totally disbelieving that the female O’Kanes could possibly enjoy sex at all, but then she meets Jared, and he seems comfortingly familiar, and he helps her to see things more clearly. Lili also awakens things inside Jared that he thought he'd lost because she actually sees him for himself. Watching Lili become self reliant and take a chance with Jared was so sweet.
I loved how much we got to see of Ace/Rachel/Cruz in this story as well, they're now tied with Lili and Jared for my favorite couple in this series.
Lili Fleming was brought up in fear inside Sector Five, she has been doped out of her mind for the last 5 years that she's been married(to a sociopath) and untouched by her husband(thankfully).
We get to watch her come down and learn how to feel things, she starts out terrified and totally disbelieving that the female O’Kanes could possibly enjoy sex at all, but then she meets Jared, and he seems comfortingly familiar, and he helps her to see things more clearly. Lili also awakens things inside Jared that he thought he'd lost because she actually sees him for himself. Watching Lili become self reliant and take a chance with Jared was so sweet.
I loved how much we got to see of Ace/Rachel/Cruz in this story as well, they're now tied with Lili and Jared for my favorite couple in this series.
timitra's review against another edition
4.0
It's been a long time since I've been in the Beyond world, since I've visited Sector Four so I was excited to read Beyond Innocence, to step back into that world. I must say I really enjoyed it, it's definitely one of my favorite books of the series.
I loved slipping back into the world of the O'Kane's, catching up with characters who've already had their stories told and those who haven't, the orgies, the super filthy sex and watching the hero and heroine, Jared and Lili fall for each other. While these are all things that you'll find in any of the Beyond books Beyond Innocence included, it is a little different as it goes behind Eden's walls which I was really happy about and gave a glimpse of the politics. From the events that occur in the story we are definitely going to be going behind Eden's walls more often and I for one can't wait.
If you're a fan of the series you're going to enjoy this latest addition to the series it doesn't disappoint at all.
ARC provided by author
I loved slipping back into the world of the O'Kane's, catching up with characters who've already had their stories told and those who haven't, the orgies, the super filthy sex and watching the hero and heroine, Jared and Lili fall for each other. While these are all things that you'll find in any of the Beyond books Beyond Innocence included, it is a little different as it goes behind Eden's walls which I was really happy about and gave a glimpse of the politics. From the events that occur in the story we are definitely going to be going behind Eden's walls more often and I for one can't wait.
If you're a fan of the series you're going to enjoy this latest addition to the series it doesn't disappoint at all.
ARC provided by author
bookish_notes's review
4.0
I'm kind of conflicted about this one. Maybe I had just really high hopes for this story? I wanted the angst and the backstory, and...it just wasn't really there. I've been looking forward to Lili and Jared's story for awhile and I liked them, but I almost feel like their story got swallowed up by the Sector issues.
Lili Fleming was married at fifteen to her father's second-in-command in Sector Five. Her husband was much like her father, twisted in his cruelty, and Lili had learned to drown out her feelings in high society drugs. Her actions are routine, and she has a difficult time believing the fantasy world Sector Four enjoys. Where others see pleasure, she sees pain. The sort of agony of a woman who doesn't believe sex with a man is something she could ever enjoy, but had been simply taught to endure.
Jared is Ace's longtime friend. He was raised alongside Ace and Gia to maneuver their way around Eden's wealthiest by selling themselves. Jared has worked for years, made himself extremely wealthy, by selling himself as an escort, a whore. He wants out. He sees Ace happy with Cruz and Rachel, and the loneliness of his own situation is eating at him. Jared wants to do better, contribute to the Sector, and he finds himself tangled up with the one man who's been trying to recruit him for years - Dallas O'Kane.
It makes sense that Lili finds comfort in the familiar. Jared is handsome and wears expensive, tailored suits unlike most men in Sector Four. The drugs she used to numb herself back in Five has run out and she's forced to see the world with almost an alarming clarity. Something she hasn't had for almost the past five years. She's innocent when it comes to sex, but she was made to be an O'Kane the minute she stepped into their Compound after she shot her guard and walked on foot to Sector Four.
The possible angst and bonding, I suppose, between Lili and Jared just wasn't there for me. I feel like I would have loved more day-to-day interactions between the two. There were definitely some tender moments between them. The piano was a nice touch (I do have a weakness for characters who play piano). I liked that this story showed that the O'Kane women each have their own talents and that Dallas realizes what a valuable addition they are to his gang. Lili's not a physical fighter like Six, so she's not bound for cage fighting anytime soon, but she's tough and she knows how to put all those years training as a Sector Five trophy wife to get what she wants.
The Sectors are reaching a breaking point with Eden, and for a moment there, this story shows just how sadistic Eden can be. It gives some idea as to the life Doc, or Dylan, left and why he would decide to work with the O'Kanes, even if he's high most the time. The tension keeps building and there is a war coming. It's only a matter of when at this point.
There's been some scenes now introducing us to the next book featuring Mad, Doc, Scarlet, and Jade. I'm not feeling the four characters right now relationship-wise, even though Mad's story has kind of been building since the first time we met him in book one. There's not much sexual tension with these characters like there were with Ace, Cruz, and Rachel, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out in Beyond Ruin.
She'd come to Sector Four with so few possessions to her name - a gun, a nightgown, and a fur coat.
Lili Fleming was married at fifteen to her father's second-in-command in Sector Five. Her husband was much like her father, twisted in his cruelty, and Lili had learned to drown out her feelings in high society drugs. Her actions are routine, and she has a difficult time believing the fantasy world Sector Four enjoys. Where others see pleasure, she sees pain. The sort of agony of a woman who doesn't believe sex with a man is something she could ever enjoy, but had been simply taught to endure.
Jared is Ace's longtime friend. He was raised alongside Ace and Gia to maneuver their way around Eden's wealthiest by selling themselves. Jared has worked for years, made himself extremely wealthy, by selling himself as an escort, a whore. He wants out. He sees Ace happy with Cruz and Rachel, and the loneliness of his own situation is eating at him. Jared wants to do better, contribute to the Sector, and he finds himself tangled up with the one man who's been trying to recruit him for years - Dallas O'Kane.
It makes sense that Lili finds comfort in the familiar. Jared is handsome and wears expensive, tailored suits unlike most men in Sector Four. The drugs she used to numb herself back in Five has run out and she's forced to see the world with almost an alarming clarity. Something she hasn't had for almost the past five years. She's innocent when it comes to sex, but she was made to be an O'Kane the minute she stepped into their Compound after she shot her guard and walked on foot to Sector Four.
The possible angst and bonding, I suppose, between Lili and Jared just wasn't there for me. I feel like I would have loved more day-to-day interactions between the two. There were definitely some tender moments between them. The piano was a nice touch (I do have a weakness for characters who play piano). I liked that this story showed that the O'Kane women each have their own talents and that Dallas realizes what a valuable addition they are to his gang. Lili's not a physical fighter like Six, so she's not bound for cage fighting anytime soon, but she's tough and she knows how to put all those years training as a Sector Five trophy wife to get what she wants.
The Sectors are reaching a breaking point with Eden, and for a moment there, this story shows just how sadistic Eden can be. It gives some idea as to the life Doc, or Dylan, left and why he would decide to work with the O'Kanes, even if he's high most the time. The tension keeps building and there is a war coming. It's only a matter of when at this point.
There's been some scenes now introducing us to the next book featuring Mad, Doc, Scarlet, and Jade. I'm not feeling the four characters right now relationship-wise, even though Mad's story has kind of been building since the first time we met him in book one. There's not much sexual tension with these characters like there were with Ace, Cruz, and Rachel, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out in Beyond Ruin.
theoppositebookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
What I loved most about this one was Lili. Even after all that she’s been through, it didn’t stop her pursuit of happiness and belonging. Was she afraid and unsure of herself? Hell yeah, but she knew her skills and used them to help the O’Kanes and Jared as much as she could. She’s a brave woman for sure, even if it took her a bit to get there.
solaana's review against another edition
Didn't go quite how I thought it would but hey