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A review by kfriend
Summer and Smoke by Coralee June
5.0
I love this series so much. We've got interesting and high stakes actions, layers upon layers of character connections and backstories and secrets and unclear motivations, an incredibly well-rounded harem of men that I genuinely care about equally (like seriously, they are all awesome), and a kick-a herione that is both tough and vulnerable all at once.
This RH felt a bit atypical to me in a great way in that the RH wasn't a natural fit for a lot of them at first. Sunshine herself didn't understand her past feelings and perhaps felt connected romantically to one of them more than the others, the men all had complicated and at times conflicting relationships with each other, not all of them are always on equal footing in the relationship, and not all of them are equally comfortable- which feels far more interesting, realistic, and complex than other "super easy" RH configurations. The RH is as much relationally driven as situationally -even though all of them had feelings for Sunshine, it is the passage of time and dire situations that push them over the edge into the RH world. The path isn't easy, for each of them as characters and even more so for them as a group.
I also love how complex each character is- Coralee is a pro at creating characters who are rich in history, rich in emotion, and are nuanced and specific- each uniquely drawn. Everyone is flawed, but everyone is perfect for each other. While I definitely have a soft spot for Blaise, and Gavriel gets me the hottest, I like how each of them is created in such a way that there aren't favorites. Sure, there definitely is one who is a bit more in the drivers seat, but they each play their own roles, and I appreciate a RH where the characters are all complex enough to be interesting and magnetic- I love them all.
And i love Sunshine. I want to be here, I want to be her best friend. She's a wonderful heroine and center of this story.
Can't get enough of this series!
This RH felt a bit atypical to me in a great way in that the RH wasn't a natural fit for a lot of them at first. Sunshine herself didn't understand her past feelings and perhaps felt connected romantically to one of them more than the others, the men all had complicated and at times conflicting relationships with each other, not all of them are always on equal footing in the relationship, and not all of them are equally comfortable- which feels far more interesting, realistic, and complex than other "super easy" RH configurations. The RH is as much relationally driven as situationally -even though all of them had feelings for Sunshine, it is the passage of time and dire situations that push them over the edge into the RH world. The path isn't easy, for each of them as characters and even more so for them as a group.
I also love how complex each character is- Coralee is a pro at creating characters who are rich in history, rich in emotion, and are nuanced and specific- each uniquely drawn. Everyone is flawed, but everyone is perfect for each other. While I definitely have a soft spot for Blaise, and Gavriel gets me the hottest, I like how each of them is created in such a way that there aren't favorites. Sure, there definitely is one who is a bit more in the drivers seat, but they each play their own roles, and I appreciate a RH where the characters are all complex enough to be interesting and magnetic- I love them all.
And i love Sunshine. I want to be here, I want to be her best friend. She's a wonderful heroine and center of this story.
Can't get enough of this series!