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jamie_w's review
5.0
Oh god. How do I put into words the things this book made me feel? Like I had that tingle and ache the whole time!
This was so sexy but so painful which is an interesting combination of strong emotions. But it’s also what I live for.
Ronan and Seth are everything I want when I read romance. Their love hurt. Their fear, regret, anticipation, need, desire, hope and despair- ALL OF IT!! The way they physically loved each other HURT in all the best ways. The way they would pull away or run just made it all so much deeper. God. What do I do with myself now!!
The mystery and trauma in this book definitely need to be considered because it is rough!! Worth it though!
I adored absolutely everything about this book. The angst alone makes it utterly captivating!!
This was so sexy but so painful which is an interesting combination of strong emotions. But it’s also what I live for.
Ronan and Seth are everything I want when I read romance. Their love hurt. Their fear, regret, anticipation, need, desire, hope and despair- ALL OF IT!! The way they physically loved each other HURT in all the best ways. The way they would pull away or run just made it all so much deeper. God. What do I do with myself now!!
The mystery and trauma in this book definitely need to be considered because it is rough!! Worth it though!
I adored absolutely everything about this book. The angst alone makes it utterly captivating!!
kaitlin_durante's review
4.0
Another great M/M read by Sloane Kennedy.
Again so dark.
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the whole younger brother storyline but it was well written and didn't feel creepy.
More please!
Again so dark.
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the whole younger brother storyline but it was well written and didn't feel creepy.
More please!
leelee68's review
4.0
I could never read this series straight through. I need some other books in between because these book have tons of rough stuff in them. Not for the faint of heart. I enjoyed this one but it took me most of the book to warm up to Ronan. No problems with Seth, I really liked him. I thought they were great together when they finally connected.
alexisisreading's review
2.0
Ok so this was like a 2.5 rounded down.. at around 8% I was strongly considering DNFing the book because the first chapter just really threw me completely off - I was not expecting that first sex scene and the direction it seemed to be heading in but then ended up not being - but then I came here and I saw a ton of 4 and 5 stars so I was like okay maybe it gets better??
I wouldn't say it didn't get better, I think I just really did not like Ronan and I was unable to really root for him until about 90% into the book and even then it was iffy. I found him to just be such an asshole to Seth and I get he had his reasons. Both Seth and Ronan really have gone through a lot of shit so I don't invalidate any of their feelings I just couldn't really see what Seth saw in him. I feel like both Ronan and Seth had a lot they needed to work through and neither one of them really got to go through that process. They just started having sex and things got better-ish?? The ending and big reveal of who was after Seth also just happened really fast. The inner monologues of both characters were just so long too, which was the same in book 1, but for some reason I was able to tolerate more in the first book than this one.
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did because it had a lot of good tropes that I usually like and I did really like Seth - he deserved so much better - but unfortunately this one just didn't do it for me.
Despite this book not being for me I do want to continue the series because I'm interested in Hawke. I think now that I can prepare myself for just how violent these books are I can get into them a little more.
I wouldn't say it didn't get better, I think I just really did not like Ronan and I was unable to really root for him until about 90% into the book and even then it was iffy. I found him to just be such an asshole to Seth and I get he had his reasons. Both Seth and Ronan really have gone through a lot of shit so I don't invalidate any of their feelings I just couldn't really see what Seth saw in him. I feel like both Ronan and Seth had a lot they needed to work through and neither one of them really got to go through that process. They just started having sex and things got better-ish?? The ending and big reveal of who was after Seth also just happened really fast. The inner monologues of both characters were just so long too, which was the same in book 1, but for some reason I was able to tolerate more in the first book than this one.
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did because it had a lot of good tropes that I usually like and I did really like Seth - he deserved so much better - but unfortunately this one just didn't do it for me.
Despite this book not being for me I do want to continue the series because I'm interested in Hawke. I think now that I can prepare myself for just how violent these books are I can get into them a little more.
haletostilinski1's review
2.0
So I feel very 25/75 about this book, because I really enjoyed Ronan and Seth's relationship, except the beginning part was very hard to read, warning for anyone -
Anyway, Ronan and Seth's relationship was sweet, sizzling, and the chemistry was crazy good. But they were also extremely frustrating.
Because it was like watching a ping pong match, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Ronan would take one step forward and then two steps back. And Seth would be angry at him (without really taking much time think why Ronan kept running away) and then forgive him like two seconds later when they came in contact again.
First Ronan was "distancing" himself because of what happened in the beginning of the book, but not really. After their first time, Ronan "runs" again, but not really. Seth is all "we're done" and then they're fucking two seconds later, and while it is scorching hot, after it's over Seth is firm again in them being done.
But then a week later after a conversation with Hawke, Seth is back at Ronan's door - asking for friendship, but just friendship between them doesn't last that long. Also, Ronan does leave when Seth asks him to, but doesn't actually leave Seattle, because he can't truly leave Seth - except he won't give Seth anything of himself except sex at that point. And keeps saying and thinking "we can't, I'm not good for you, your best without me" but he keeps coming back.
So they do the friend thing for like a week or a little bit more - and they do have their sweet moments that I enjoyed, and I felt that it was more than just sex between them - but then Ronan goes - frankly, a little scary on a dude at Seth's job and threatens the guy (while the guy was being an asshole, I don't know if he deserved that reaction - that frankly felt like an overreaction on Ronan's part, even though it fit his character) and I guess Seth finds that hot somehow because he kisses Ronan.
Then they fuck in Seth's office - which, hot, of course - but then after Ronan runs again, and Seth is hurt, and later they fuck again after Ronan has been all cold to him, again, and Seth even proclaims his love and Ronan, runs, AGAIN.
It felt a little like getting whiplash. And Seth was firm with Ronan for all of three days, and then he was swooning over him again, but then eventually Ronan acted all cold and distant, of course, and Seth would be angry again. And he kept saying for Ronan to leave him alone, that after all this shit was over, they were "done" but then five seconds later they were all lovey dovey with each other again, and calling each other baby when they were angry or distant from each other five seconds ago, and then sex (while hot) happened again and again.
And frankly most of this back and forth would have been solved if Ronan would have just TOLD Seth the truth about what happened to Trace, and what he did for a living now, and while it was understandable for the first half of the book that he didn't tell Seth, because that is heavy shit and hard to talk about, it got tiring after Ronan refused over and over and over again, to Hawke, to Seth, to himself, to just fucking say something.
I get that Ronan was broken and men usually suck at communication, but jesusss, it took until the 83% mark for Ronan to finally tell Seth everything (when he'd said nothing of his two big "secrets" beforehand), and there was so many "this is the last chance, or I'll lose him forever" or "I'm probably going to lose him and never see him again" moments I was like, really????
And the plot, while it made perfect sense (and was also completely predictable I was like how do you guys NOT see who is behind all this?? Honestly??) had a completely anti-climatic end. I felt no fear
I was going to give this book three stars, but the more I wrote the review the more I felt I needed to give it two stars, because there was so much more that annoyed me about than what I liked - although it was good at sucking me into it, I'll give it that, and Ronan and Seth's steamy sex scenes were awesome.
There was a barely there and gone plot with some Barry dude that was like Seth's creepy therapist? What was the point of him other than to like, make Ronan jealous and get all hulk on him and to show Seth "the real him" as Seth thought it. Seriously, that went nowhere, and was probably also there to make us "wonder" who the bad guy could be, but I never thought it was him because besides being a creep and a gross asshole, he never seemed to be the person doing all this to Seth.
Also, when Seth's home was invaded and he was tortured there and saw his parents killed, why would Seth feel safe inside a house?? Wouldn't it be the opposite? Why would the outside world be so scary when the horrible thing happened to Seth inside his home, not in the outside world? It didn't make much sense to me.
SOooo many plot holes here, so little time.
Also, I know horrible, awful things happen to people and it isn't impossible that all this horrible shit would happen, but it felt kind of like overkill, because Seth lost his parents, was tortured and almost died when he was a kid, and then a year later his brother dies, and then all Seth has is his ailing, barely there to help, grandmother, and Seth barely has anyone, basically no one. And then Ronan has an alcoholic, abusive father, then what happens to Trace, to himself, and then having to hear all the horrible things that happened to all the secondary characters (while that makes sense because they're all part of Ronan's...company (?) for a reason, it's still...yeesh) it's just like jesus fucking christ can no one get a break in these novels? Can all this shit happen to so many people so close to each other? And it's fine that it did, because horrible shit happens, but having horrific things happen to everyone in this story just felt like overkill. Ronan was messed up, Seth was messed up, Hawke was messed up, the guys from the first book (which, yes, I did not read), and so on and so forth. Again, I'm not saying bad things can't happen, but if horrific things happened to one character (that don't usually happen in everyday life) and then bad, sucky things that happen in everyday life to the other, it wouldn't feel like overkill. But just...whew, it was a lot.
So, this book was very frustrating to me. I like Ronan and Seth's relationship - although something more organic that could have happened for drama was the fact that Seth was Trace's little brother and them dealing with that, and forming a relationship when Ronan had been with Seth's brother, because I felt like that was barely touched on when that could have been played up instead of other things that were front and center.
Overall, I enjoyed Ronan and Seth's relationship, I thought they were the strongest part of the novel, them together, and the sex was scorchingly good, but the rest was just...ughhh, annoying.
Spoiler
no rape happens, but it almost does between them. Seth wants it but it's bringing back horrific memories he has of being tied up and tortured, and if Ronan didn't see his tears, he wouldn't have stopped. He fingers Seth, but he doesn't penetrate him and it stops before rape happens, and before that it was consensual (the kissing and blowjob). And Seth later explains it was the flashback to what happened, not what Ronan was going to do. Still, it is hard to read, even though they don't go through with it. Later when they do have sex, it is completely consensual.Anyway, Ronan and Seth's relationship was sweet, sizzling, and the chemistry was crazy good. But they were also extremely frustrating.
Because it was like watching a ping pong match, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Ronan would take one step forward and then two steps back. And Seth would be angry at him (without really taking much time think why Ronan kept running away) and then forgive him like two seconds later when they came in contact again.
First Ronan was "distancing" himself because of what happened in the beginning of the book, but not really. After their first time, Ronan "runs" again, but not really. Seth is all "we're done" and then they're fucking two seconds later, and while it is scorching hot, after it's over Seth is firm again in them being done.
But then a week later after a conversation with Hawke, Seth is back at Ronan's door - asking for friendship, but just friendship between them doesn't last that long. Also, Ronan does leave when Seth asks him to, but doesn't actually leave Seattle, because he can't truly leave Seth - except he won't give Seth anything of himself except sex at that point. And keeps saying and thinking "we can't, I'm not good for you, your best without me" but he keeps coming back.
So they do the friend thing for like a week or a little bit more - and they do have their sweet moments that I enjoyed, and I felt that it was more than just sex between them - but then Ronan goes - frankly, a little scary on a dude at Seth's job and threatens the guy (while the guy was being an asshole, I don't know if he deserved that reaction - that frankly felt like an overreaction on Ronan's part, even though it fit his character) and I guess Seth finds that hot somehow because he kisses Ronan.
Then they fuck in Seth's office - which, hot, of course - but then after Ronan runs again, and Seth is hurt, and later they fuck again after Ronan has been all cold to him, again, and Seth even proclaims his love and Ronan, runs, AGAIN.
It felt a little like getting whiplash. And Seth was firm with Ronan for all of three days, and then he was swooning over him again, but then eventually Ronan acted all cold and distant, of course, and Seth would be angry again. And he kept saying for Ronan to leave him alone, that after all this shit was over, they were "done" but then five seconds later they were all lovey dovey with each other again, and calling each other baby when they were angry or distant from each other five seconds ago, and then sex (while hot) happened again and again.
And frankly most of this back and forth would have been solved if Ronan would have just TOLD Seth the truth about what happened to Trace, and what he did for a living now, and while it was understandable for the first half of the book that he didn't tell Seth, because that is heavy shit and hard to talk about, it got tiring after Ronan refused over and over and over again, to Hawke, to Seth, to himself, to just fucking say something.
I get that Ronan was broken and men usually suck at communication, but jesusss, it took until the 83% mark for Ronan to finally tell Seth everything (when he'd said nothing of his two big "secrets" beforehand), and there was so many "this is the last chance, or I'll lose him forever" or "I'm probably going to lose him and never see him again" moments I was like, really????
And the plot, while it made perfect sense (and was also completely predictable I was like how do you guys NOT see who is behind all this?? Honestly??
Spoiler
Have you dudes ever watch a movie about greedy fuckers who want all your money???Spoiler
for Seth, because I knew he would get saved. I had no doubt that he wouldn't, and he was barely in danger before he was saved. There was no tension in the climax, at all.I was going to give this book three stars, but the more I wrote the review the more I felt I needed to give it two stars, because there was so much more that annoyed me about than what I liked - although it was good at sucking me into it, I'll give it that, and Ronan and Seth's steamy sex scenes were awesome.
There was a barely there and gone plot with some Barry dude that was like Seth's creepy therapist? What was the point of him other than to like, make Ronan jealous and get all hulk on him and to show Seth "the real him" as Seth thought it. Seriously, that went nowhere, and was probably also there to make us "wonder" who the bad guy could be, but I never thought it was him because besides being a creep and a gross asshole, he never seemed to be the person doing all this to Seth.
Also, when Seth's home was invaded and he was tortured there and saw his parents killed, why would Seth feel safe inside a house?? Wouldn't it be the opposite? Why would the outside world be so scary when the horrible thing happened to Seth inside his home, not in the outside world? It didn't make much sense to me.
SOooo many plot holes here, so little time.
Also, I know horrible, awful things happen to people and it isn't impossible that all this horrible shit would happen, but it felt kind of like overkill, because Seth lost his parents, was tortured and almost died when he was a kid, and then a year later his brother dies, and then all Seth has is his ailing, barely there to help, grandmother, and Seth barely has anyone, basically no one. And then Ronan has an alcoholic, abusive father, then what happens to Trace, to himself, and then having to hear all the horrible things that happened to all the secondary characters (while that makes sense because they're all part of Ronan's...company (?) for a reason, it's still...yeesh) it's just like jesus fucking christ can no one get a break in these novels? Can all this shit happen to so many people so close to each other? And it's fine that it did, because horrible shit happens, but having horrific things happen to everyone in this story just felt like overkill. Ronan was messed up, Seth was messed up, Hawke was messed up, the guys from the first book (which, yes, I did not read), and so on and so forth. Again, I'm not saying bad things can't happen, but if horrific things happened to one character (that don't usually happen in everyday life) and then bad, sucky things that happen in everyday life to the other, it wouldn't feel like overkill. But just...whew, it was a lot.
So, this book was very frustrating to me. I like Ronan and Seth's relationship - although something more organic that could have happened for drama was the fact that Seth was Trace's little brother and them dealing with that, and forming a relationship when Ronan had been with Seth's brother, because I felt like that was barely touched on when that could have been played up instead of other things that were front and center.
Overall, I enjoyed Ronan and Seth's relationship, I thought they were the strongest part of the novel, them together, and the sex was scorchingly good, but the rest was just...ughhh, annoying.
bookish_notes's review
2.0
I wanted to love this book. I think there are a lot of interesting characters in this series, and I want to know their stories But, there's just a lot that doesn't sit right with me. After reading Absolution, I was interested in learning more about the kind of man who would hire assassins to make the world a better place, but unfortunately, this story just falls short of my expectations.
Salvation introduces us to Ronan, a man who funds an operation to kill, and ruin the lives of very bad people. These people are the worst of the worst - pedophiles, rapists, etc. We learn that Ronan was once engaged to be married to a man named Trace, until he was killed while they were on duty overseas. Ronan has always been close to Trace's family, including Trace's younger brother, Seth. There's a fifteen year age difference between Ronan and Seth, but despite a lot of issues I find in this book, the age difference wasn't one of them. The author manages to make it very clear that Ronan has never felt or treated Seth as anything other than his fiancé's younger brother until Seth initiated a kiss between them three years before this novel starts (so, Seth would have been 18 at this point). Nothing happened between them then, and Ronan disappeared from Seth's life, even though he would occasionally turn up from time to time to monitor Seth from a distance.
Age-wise, everything is totally legal, and not creepy in that regard. However, there were a lot of issues that just didn't sit well with me about Salvation. Like with the first book, the characters have very tragic, dark pasts. I'm not entirely sure the one trigger warning at the beginning of the book encompasses everything that might be triggers in this book. Seth has been in love with Ronan forever, even as a young kid. Now, he's all grown up and runs his father's business, but it becomes apparent that he needs to see a therapist to deal with everything he's been through. Same with Ronan and how he fits into Trace's death. These two characters are...I don't know if I want to say toxic to one another? There's a lot of baggage they need to work out on their own, and when sex is added into the mix, it complicates everything.
Numerous times throughout this book, Seth will tell Ronan to stop doing something, like stop advancing towards him, or stop coming back into his life. But Ronan doesn't. He just keeps on pushing into Seth's life and is kind of a stalker with the monitoring and bodyguards he hires to watch over Seth. The second time they have sex, it's rough and without any warning at all (this is also Seth's second time at having sex with anyone), Ronan decides to just do everything without a condom and assumes that Seth will be okay with it? ALSO, after every single time they have sex, Ronan just disappears from Seth's life and it, rightly so, messes up Seth a lot. He might have a case of agoraphobia, and probably some form of PTSD because of his past, and Ronan just brushes him off every time. Consent is really iffy in this book and it's just super uncomfortable to read. By the end, I was skipping right through the sex scenes.
Plot? I liked the slow build-up to what's going on with Seth - the why and who might be targeting him. I loved Bullet, Seth's dog. I would have DNF'd this book so quick if the dog died (spoiler, the dog lives, thank goodness).
Overall, I just had problems with this book that made me feel uncomfortable, and that's not even including Ronan and Seth's backstories. I really want to find out what happened to Hawke and if he gets the men who, essentially, killed his wife. But do I want to read more books in this series? Maybe I will eventually, but it's not at the top of my list of books to read after books one and two failed to impress.
Salvation introduces us to Ronan, a man who funds an operation to kill, and ruin the lives of very bad people. These people are the worst of the worst - pedophiles, rapists, etc. We learn that Ronan was once engaged to be married to a man named Trace, until he was killed while they were on duty overseas. Ronan has always been close to Trace's family, including Trace's younger brother, Seth. There's a fifteen year age difference between Ronan and Seth, but despite a lot of issues I find in this book, the age difference wasn't one of them. The author manages to make it very clear that Ronan has never felt or treated Seth as anything other than his fiancé's younger brother until Seth initiated a kiss between them three years before this novel starts (so, Seth would have been 18 at this point). Nothing happened between them then, and Ronan disappeared from Seth's life, even though he would occasionally turn up from time to time to monitor Seth from a distance.
Age-wise, everything is totally legal, and not creepy in that regard. However, there were a lot of issues that just didn't sit well with me about Salvation. Like with the first book, the characters have very tragic, dark pasts. I'm not entirely sure the one trigger warning at the beginning of the book encompasses everything that might be triggers in this book. Seth has been in love with Ronan forever, even as a young kid. Now, he's all grown up and runs his father's business, but it becomes apparent that he needs to see a therapist to deal with everything he's been through. Same with Ronan and how he fits into Trace's death. These two characters are...I don't know if I want to say toxic to one another? There's a lot of baggage they need to work out on their own, and when sex is added into the mix, it complicates everything.
Numerous times throughout this book, Seth will tell Ronan to stop doing something, like stop advancing towards him, or stop coming back into his life. But Ronan doesn't. He just keeps on pushing into Seth's life and is kind of a stalker with the monitoring and bodyguards he hires to watch over Seth. The second time they have sex, it's rough and without any warning at all (this is also Seth's second time at having sex with anyone), Ronan decides to just do everything without a condom and assumes that Seth will be okay with it? ALSO, after every single time they have sex, Ronan just disappears from Seth's life and it, rightly so, messes up Seth a lot. He might have a case of agoraphobia, and probably some form of PTSD because of his past, and Ronan just brushes him off every time. Consent is really iffy in this book and it's just super uncomfortable to read. By the end, I was skipping right through the sex scenes.
Plot? I liked the slow build-up to what's going on with Seth - the why and who might be targeting him. I loved Bullet, Seth's dog. I would have DNF'd this book so quick if the dog died (spoiler, the dog lives, thank goodness).
Overall, I just had problems with this book that made me feel uncomfortable, and that's not even including Ronan and Seth's backstories. I really want to find out what happened to Hawke and if he gets the men who, essentially, killed his wife. But do I want to read more books in this series? Maybe I will eventually, but it's not at the top of my list of books to read after books one and two failed to impress.
bookish_jade's review
3.0
2.75 ⭐️ i really liked the angst and seth is such a sweetheart but ronan was kinda irritating to me for some reason and i have no idea why
cindaren's review
1.0
I kind of hate this book. "We're done." "No we're not." "Yes we are." "Ok." "Wait, no we're not."
shinysue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Ugh this book was not good. I suppose the writing is fine, but the characters are awful and the relationship is totally toxic. Nothing about this is redeemable. I struggled to get through this, and by the end I was listening at double my usual pace just to finish this up. The plot was drawn out, the "secret" is something the reader knows the whole time so I don't understand why Kennedy keeps writing about it so cryptically, and all these characters need intense therapy. With a real therapist. You have to absolutely suspend your disbelief to accept any part of this plot.
This was my second attempt at this book, and now I understand why I struggled to get through it the first time.
This was my second attempt at this book, and now I understand why I struggled to get through it the first time.
roryta86reads's review against another edition
2.0
2nd read, and I still felt like I couldn't connect with the characters. I liked Ronan in the previous book. And I have this memory of liking Seth and Ronan, but I think that I like them in the epilogues and the extended family and that christmas story, more than liking them here in this book.
It just felt like, (despite the theme of these books and the angst), that their dynamic was NOT healthy at all. Everytime Ronan pulled away from Seth, not once, or twice, he did it over and over again. It doesn't make sense for Seth to accept that. I feel like it was a bit too late when Ronan started coming back to Seth. I dont know, this didn't work for me the first time, and it didnt work for me the 2nd time.
It just felt like, (despite the theme of these books and the angst), that their dynamic was NOT healthy at all. Everytime Ronan pulled away from Seth, not once, or twice, he did it over and over again. It doesn't make sense for Seth to accept that. I feel like it was a bit too late when Ronan started coming back to Seth. I dont know, this didn't work for me the first time, and it didnt work for me the 2nd time.