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A review by maggiemaggio
End of the Innocence by Alessandra Torre
3.0
3.5 stars
I don't anyone to see my 3.5 star rating and think I didn't like this book, I did like it, but compared to the previous two books, which I loved, it's just not as good. I have been waiting for End of the Innocence since I finished Masked Innocence back in December. As much as I loved Blindfolded Innocence, I really fell in love with Masked Innocence and where Torre took Julia and Brad's relationship.
End of the Innocence (I also don't like how the title doesn't follow the same pattern as the first two books, I'm not taking off points for that, but still) mostly picks up where Masked Innocence left off. Julia and Brad are engaged and even though Brad wants to get married as soon as possible, both to protect Julia and to make her his sooner, she wants to wait a year to really be confident of where they are as a couple. True to form, Julia wants to keep their engagement a secret, but Brad wants everyone to know which leads to some funny, cringeworthy office scenes and the first meeting between Julia's parents and Brad.
Unlike the first two books in the series this one covers a large time period, just over a year, while the other two took place over relatively short periods of time. I thought Alessandra Torre did a good job of picking the different parts of Julia and Brad's life to show over the course of their year-long engagement, but at times I did think it read like vignettes rather than a cohesive narrative.
Fans of the sexy scenes will not be disappointed by this book. Torre excels at writing sex scenes between Julia and Brad and Julia, Brad, and other people and this book probably had more sex scenes than either of the previous two and they were all great. There was also a good mix of scenes of Julia and Brad out of bed showing how they have more than just a physical connection.
However, I do have some negatives to talk about. The story starts with a scene of Julia waking up seemingly having been kidnapped. We then flash back a year and figure out how she came to be taken. Throughout the book there are references in an overarching narrative that happens at the beginning of every chapter referencing that something bad is going to happen. This method of storytelling is just not for me. While I don't mind suspense it was too melodramatic for me. Also, at the beginning of the book Julia and Brad were very stiff, the writing seemed to lack the ease of the earlier books, but it did settle in. Finally, there are some inconsistencies in Brad's age. I seem to remember him being somewhere in his 40s in the first book, which would make sense given his level of success, but in this story he's 34 at one point and 36 at another point.
If I had to say whether I thought this was a fitting end of Julia and Brad I would say yes, but with some reservations. I really enjoyed the scenes of Julia and Brad together during their engagement year, but the kidnapping was a little much for me and I didn't like how it wasn't fully resolved. Plus, there were moments where I thought Julia and Brad both changed too much from who they were at the beginning of the series, but maybe that's just them growing up and maturing.
Bottom Line: The Innocence Series remains my favorite erotica/romance series and I really enjoy Alessandra Torre's writing. I had my issues with End of the Innocence, this is my least favorite book of the series, but I still enjoyed it and remain smitten with both Julia and Brad and look forward to reading more from Torre.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
I don't anyone to see my 3.5 star rating and think I didn't like this book, I did like it, but compared to the previous two books, which I loved, it's just not as good. I have been waiting for End of the Innocence since I finished Masked Innocence back in December. As much as I loved Blindfolded Innocence, I really fell in love with Masked Innocence and where Torre took Julia and Brad's relationship.
End of the Innocence (I also don't like how the title doesn't follow the same pattern as the first two books, I'm not taking off points for that, but still) mostly picks up where Masked Innocence left off. Julia and Brad are engaged and even though Brad wants to get married as soon as possible, both to protect Julia and to make her his sooner, she wants to wait a year to really be confident of where they are as a couple. True to form, Julia wants to keep their engagement a secret, but Brad wants everyone to know which leads to some funny, cringeworthy office scenes and the first meeting between Julia's parents and Brad.
Unlike the first two books in the series this one covers a large time period, just over a year, while the other two took place over relatively short periods of time. I thought Alessandra Torre did a good job of picking the different parts of Julia and Brad's life to show over the course of their year-long engagement, but at times I did think it read like vignettes rather than a cohesive narrative.
Fans of the sexy scenes will not be disappointed by this book. Torre excels at writing sex scenes between Julia and Brad and Julia, Brad, and other people and this book probably had more sex scenes than either of the previous two and they were all great. There was also a good mix of scenes of Julia and Brad out of bed showing how they have more than just a physical connection.
However, I do have some negatives to talk about. The story starts with a scene of Julia waking up seemingly having been kidnapped. We then flash back a year and figure out how she came to be taken. Throughout the book there are references in an overarching narrative that happens at the beginning of every chapter referencing that something bad is going to happen. This method of storytelling is just not for me. While I don't mind suspense it was too melodramatic for me. Also, at the beginning of the book Julia and Brad were very stiff, the writing seemed to lack the ease of the earlier books, but it did settle in. Finally, there are some inconsistencies in Brad's age. I seem to remember him being somewhere in his 40s in the first book, which would make sense given his level of success, but in this story he's 34 at one point and 36 at another point.
If I had to say whether I thought this was a fitting end of Julia and Brad I would say yes, but with some reservations. I really enjoyed the scenes of Julia and Brad together during their engagement year, but the kidnapping was a little much for me and I didn't like how it wasn't fully resolved. Plus, there were moments where I thought Julia and Brad both changed too much from who they were at the beginning of the series, but maybe that's just them growing up and maturing.
Bottom Line: The Innocence Series remains my favorite erotica/romance series and I really enjoy Alessandra Torre's writing. I had my issues with End of the Innocence, this is my least favorite book of the series, but I still enjoyed it and remain smitten with both Julia and Brad and look forward to reading more from Torre.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!). All opinions are my own.