A review by kfriend
Forbidden by Karla Sorensen
4.0
Leave it to me to discover an amazing series just as its concluding, and to start it with the final book- but single dad + age gap is basically my literary catnip- and I’m so glad Forbidden introduced me to this amazing family and to the beautiful writing of Karla Sorensen- this was my first book of hers, but I loved the characters so much, I immediately went back and binged the entire series. And I am so in love with the Ward sisters- and Karla’s flavor of romance. Emotionally complex, sweet, genuine and sentimental, sexy yet tender- her stories squeeze your heart with the perfect dash of tension and swoony feels.
The magic of this story is the perfect marriage of captivating characters with a dynamic and powerful chemistry. Aidan and Isabel are beautiful characters in their own right. Isabel is a heroine that is radiantly relatable and accessible- a character full of nuances. She’s a character that feels so personal- so familiar. On the surface, she’s stoic and restrained. But she’s really just a dormant volcano, a dam of contained feelings and emotions waiting for the emotional safety and connection she needs, outside of her family, to be expressed. Much of Isabel is a visage, a curated perception that helps her both feel in control and also keeps her heart safe, a heart that hasn’t fully reconciled the emotional trauma of being abandoned by her mother and losing her father. But Aidan SEES her- and even better, he doesn’t just see her, he admires and loves her FOR this part of her. He falls in love with the part of her that isn’t visible- and OMG could it be any more romantic?! Why yes, yes it could- because Aidan has his own real and painful baggage- recently widowed, a single father, a man who has checked his own grief and needs for that of his daughter. He’s such a beautiful soul- and there are some beautiful parallels to Isabel and Aidan’s story that go back to Logan’s- the story that brought all these characters to live. I loved the symmetry of it, like this magical brood came full circle, but with fresh eyes, and even more feels.
This is a much slower burn than I anticipated- we have a heavy dose of angst as these two work out their challenges. It did, selfishly, make me wish for a chance to exist more in the gradients of their connection- but their chemistry is just so addictive, so meaningful and emotional, that despite my impatience for them to explore their connection more openingly and vulnerably, I still felt able to truly capture the depths of their connection. There is a magnetic draw between them that felt more emotional than anything - so much so it minimized the age gap taboo of it all- which ended up being a great delight- these two are too real to play to a trope. Their love is so powerful in how it liberates and heals them, and after pages of tension and angst, we get so much happiness ever after swoon that my heart feels refreshed and revitalized.
Our secondary characters- Aidan’s scene stealing daughter and the amazing Ward family- as usual enriched this story. I’ve only just discovered these sisters and I’m already lamenting the loss of their stories- such is the magic of this series. But, I’m happy to hear we’ll get more in this world. I’m so happy I discovered this series!
The magic of this story is the perfect marriage of captivating characters with a dynamic and powerful chemistry. Aidan and Isabel are beautiful characters in their own right. Isabel is a heroine that is radiantly relatable and accessible- a character full of nuances. She’s a character that feels so personal- so familiar. On the surface, she’s stoic and restrained. But she’s really just a dormant volcano, a dam of contained feelings and emotions waiting for the emotional safety and connection she needs, outside of her family, to be expressed. Much of Isabel is a visage, a curated perception that helps her both feel in control and also keeps her heart safe, a heart that hasn’t fully reconciled the emotional trauma of being abandoned by her mother and losing her father. But Aidan SEES her- and even better, he doesn’t just see her, he admires and loves her FOR this part of her. He falls in love with the part of her that isn’t visible- and OMG could it be any more romantic?! Why yes, yes it could- because Aidan has his own real and painful baggage- recently widowed, a single father, a man who has checked his own grief and needs for that of his daughter. He’s such a beautiful soul- and there are some beautiful parallels to Isabel and Aidan’s story that go back to Logan’s- the story that brought all these characters to live. I loved the symmetry of it, like this magical brood came full circle, but with fresh eyes, and even more feels.
This is a much slower burn than I anticipated- we have a heavy dose of angst as these two work out their challenges. It did, selfishly, make me wish for a chance to exist more in the gradients of their connection- but their chemistry is just so addictive, so meaningful and emotional, that despite my impatience for them to explore their connection more openingly and vulnerably, I still felt able to truly capture the depths of their connection. There is a magnetic draw between them that felt more emotional than anything - so much so it minimized the age gap taboo of it all- which ended up being a great delight- these two are too real to play to a trope. Their love is so powerful in how it liberates and heals them, and after pages of tension and angst, we get so much happiness ever after swoon that my heart feels refreshed and revitalized.
Our secondary characters- Aidan’s scene stealing daughter and the amazing Ward family- as usual enriched this story. I’ve only just discovered these sisters and I’m already lamenting the loss of their stories- such is the magic of this series. But, I’m happy to hear we’ll get more in this world. I’m so happy I discovered this series!