A review by halffast
Devil Incarnate by Angel Lawson, Samantha Rue
5.0
4.5 rounded up for GR. Everyone knew Georgia slept around, but no one knew it was because of her sex addiction. She tolerated the cruel treatment from her classmates as best she could, but when Heston Wilcox leaked their sex tape it almost destroyed her. She reported him to the police and got her revenge when the subsequent fallout ruined his life. Now their paths have crossed again, and Georgia finds herself entering a twisted arrangement with her former bully. Because Heston is the best sex she's ever had, and as an addict, it's impossible not to go back for more...
This is the final book in a four book series, and features Heston, the villain of the series, and his former victim, Georgia. I was surprised at the jump in darkness between this book and the rest of the series. The authors are Angel Lawson and Sam Rue of Royals of Forsyth fame. This book came out around the same time as Lords of Pain, and you can definitely see this writing duo flexing their creative talent for redeeming(-ish) terrible men.
From the synopsis, you might expect it'd be easy to judge Georgia for her atrocious decision making and assume she has cringey levels of body betrayal. However, the reality plays out far differently. Georgia is fully aware she's an addict and has sought therapy/treatment for it. She feels a deep sense of shame for her past and present circumstances. She knows her relationship with Heston is in no way healthy, and often frighteningly dysfunctional. But she and Heston also understand each other, and come to support one another as they struggle to cope with their addictions (Heston is addicted to gambling). Being together is often less destructive than their alternatives.
Heston drives a majority of the conflicts in this story. He was already pretty close to irredeemable at the start of the book, and he gets worse before he gets better. However, with each terrible choice he makes, more bad stuff gets heaped on him. At a certain point, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, and I loved that Georgia was there to take care of him once he hit rock-bottom. In the end, I felt that Georgia deserved someone better than Heston, but I also completely understood why she chose him and I was happy they got their HEA. I can't think of another book that's made me feel that way about the main couple.
For cons, a few aspects of the plot felt unbelievable (Heston coming back to work at the prep school where Georgia was still a student) or unfinished (nothing was really resolved with either character's family issues).
CW:
This is the final book in a four book series, and features Heston, the villain of the series, and his former victim, Georgia. I was surprised at the jump in darkness between this book and the rest of the series. The authors are Angel Lawson and Sam Rue of Royals of Forsyth fame. This book came out around the same time as Lords of Pain, and you can definitely see this writing duo flexing their creative talent for redeeming(-ish) terrible men.
From the synopsis, you might expect it'd be easy to judge Georgia for her atrocious decision making and assume she has cringey levels of body betrayal. However, the reality plays out far differently. Georgia is fully aware she's an addict and has sought therapy/treatment for it. She feels a deep sense of shame for her past and present circumstances. She knows her relationship with Heston is in no way healthy, and often frighteningly dysfunctional. But she and Heston also understand each other, and come to support one another as they struggle to cope with their addictions (Heston is addicted to gambling). Being together is often less destructive than their alternatives.
Heston drives a majority of the conflicts in this story. He was already pretty close to irredeemable at the start of the book, and he gets worse before he gets better. However, with each terrible choice he makes, more bad stuff gets heaped on him. At a certain point, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, and I loved that Georgia was there to take care of him once he hit rock-bottom. In the end, I felt that Georgia deserved someone better than Heston, but I also completely understood why she chose him and I was happy they got their HEA. I can't think of another book that's made me feel that way about the main couple.
For cons, a few aspects of the plot felt unbelievable (Heston coming back to work at the prep school where Georgia was still a student) or unfinished (nothing was really resolved with either character's family issues).
CW: