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A review by beeziereadsromance
Crossed Hearts by J.R. Gray
4.0
Second chance, best friend's brother
I'll be honest, I spent the first 30% grimacing at everything Sage did. He came across as pushy, spoiled and shallow and at one point I wasn't sure if I could keep reading because he just rubbed me the wrong way. At about 30%, you realise there's a lot more to him and we get some character growth a la Schitt's Creek (there's a definite Schitt's vibe with this book, in the best way), so hang in there, it's worth the wait.
I found this book to be engaging, laugh out loud funny at points (Sage definitely has a way with words) and I was invested in the relationship between Sage and Adam right until the end. I adored the honesty between these two, and I applaud the author for never taking easy, oft-used options to create tension.
I don't want to spoil things so I'll try to be vague here (there is a trigger warning for sexual assault that happened in the past, it's hinted at and then briefly recounted), but I really appreciate that the author clearly understands how trauma works: not all trauma involves extremely violent acts and sometimes the mere suggestion of violence is enough to cause lasting damage. There is never a question that the event in Crossed Hearts was traumatic, even though it doesn't take the shape of the violent acts we normally see in books and on tv. It's so important to see trauma represented like this in literature and on tv because these are things that happen every day yet are so often treated as insignificant; I can only think of one other romance novel that has a similar event that is treated with the gravitas it deserves, so extra points from me for this one thing.
I received an ARC and have chosen to leave an honest review.
I'll be honest, I spent the first 30% grimacing at everything Sage did. He came across as pushy, spoiled and shallow and at one point I wasn't sure if I could keep reading because he just rubbed me the wrong way. At about 30%, you realise there's a lot more to him and we get some character growth a la Schitt's Creek (there's a definite Schitt's vibe with this book, in the best way), so hang in there, it's worth the wait.
I found this book to be engaging, laugh out loud funny at points (Sage definitely has a way with words) and I was invested in the relationship between Sage and Adam right until the end. I adored the honesty between these two, and I applaud the author for never taking easy, oft-used options to create tension.
I don't want to spoil things so I'll try to be vague here (there is a trigger warning for sexual assault that happened in the past, it's hinted at and then briefly recounted), but I really appreciate that the author clearly understands how trauma works: not all trauma involves extremely violent acts and sometimes the mere suggestion of violence is enough to cause lasting damage. There is never a question that the event in Crossed Hearts was traumatic, even though it doesn't take the shape of the violent acts we normally see in books and on tv. It's so important to see trauma represented like this in literature and on tv because these are things that happen every day yet are so often treated as insignificant; I can only think of one other romance novel that has a similar event that is treated with the gravitas it deserves, so extra points from me for this one thing.
I received an ARC and have chosen to leave an honest review.