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A review by koistyfishy
Heart of Thorns by S. Massery
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
5 Stalker Grumpy Cat Stars โญ๏ธ
Spicy Level:๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ/5
Now this was an interesting read for me, and I stand by what I said for Sticks and Stones that these books (this Series) is basically the type of book you read if youโre looking for an intro to Dark Romance. While there are a couple of triggers, itโs not overbearing or overly hard to handle, and youโre still dealing with generally a green-flag MMC.
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Briar Hart, who used to be a hockey player. One night, while painting a commission in an abandoned building, the building was set on fire. Trapped and desperate to escape she jumps from the second-story window, shattering her knee and Hockey dreams. One day, she meets Cassius Thorne and something about her intrigues him; and life keeps putting them in the same place at the same time. It turns out Cassius Thorne has access to a state-of-the-art fitness centre that could help her rehabilitate her knee. In exchange, he needs someone to pretend to be his girlfriend to pacify his parents. Itโs a win-win, but we all know that fake feelings donโt always stay fake.
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
Briar is angry. She was angry before her accident channelling that rage into hockey. Now sheโs furious that her entire future has been jeopardised, and she has no control over pursuing it. Sheโs in constant pain from her injury, and she hates showing weakness or vulnerability to anyone as she doesnโt want to become the laughingstock of the university or a pity case for what happened to her. So she hides her emotions, her pain, everything and doesn't open up very easily.
Cassius Thorne is, oh my god, a gooey cinnamon roll. Not only is he popular, a quarterback, and incredibly sexy! But heโs sweet and cute and flirty, with a smirk that can melt your panties. Heโs the typical type of man written by women, because of course heโs rocking an eight-pack and is sexy as hell, BUT I AM ALL HERE FOR IT!
I really liked how their relationship developed. It never felt rushed or forced, these two were just comfortable with each other and you could see how much they enjoyed each otherโs company and how simply being around each other calmed them down. The relationship just felt real, meaningful, and realistic. Their emotional connection, the way they help each other through low points, and are thrilled for the other during the high points, was sweet.
I need to commend these two authors for taking two of my FAVOURITE tropes (and one normally only seen in Fantasy) and finding a way to put them into this romance... They share a bath and SHE HOLDS A KNIFE TO HIS THROAT! It was perfection! It's the stuff that made me devour this in one sitting. Just the quick, fun, real, emotional read I needed... everything!
One of my main issues though is that I wanted a cameo from Wren or Stone, I wanted to revisit them for a moment. But there was no mention of them at all, so it almost felt like this wasn't even the same universe as the previous book, just a random book that had the same university. I would have believed it if I had been told this was a complete standalone. (Though...Evan is mentioned in passing)
On the bright side, Iโve seen too many authors stretch this kind of book into multiple books (S. Massery herself being one of them) and I think I prefer something like this. The fast-paced story concludes at the end with a nice Epilogue wrap-up.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ University Romance
โถ Sports Romance (Hockey and Football)
โถ She Falls First - He Falls Harder
โถ Tending to Injuries
โถ Fake Dating
โถ Poor Girl, Rich Boy
โถ Black Cat X Golden Retriever (Reverse Grumpy Sunshine)
and ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Nicknames
โท Undressing Help
โท Hand Necklaces
โท Mine
โท Spicy/Steamy Water Scene
โท Share a Bath
โท Beg Me
โท Knife to the Throat
โท "Hold on to the..."
All in all, while the twist at the end wasnโt hard to see coming, and the ending felt slightly rushed and I wanted a bit more scenes of them IN the REAL relationship once they went "all in" I still really enjoyed this!
So if you like a grumpy black cat with claws who falls for a sexy golden retriever, and want banter and spice, I definitely recommend picking this up!
Thank you to ValentinePR, S. Massey and S.J. Sylvis for the gifted copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own
Spicy Level:๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ/5
Now this was an interesting read for me, and I stand by what I said for Sticks and Stones that these books (this Series) is basically the type of book you read if youโre looking for an intro to Dark Romance. While there are a couple of triggers, itโs not overbearing or overly hard to handle, and youโre still dealing with generally a green-flag MMC.
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Briar Hart, who used to be a hockey player. One night, while painting a commission in an abandoned building, the building was set on fire. Trapped and desperate to escape she jumps from the second-story window, shattering her knee and Hockey dreams. One day, she meets Cassius Thorne and something about her intrigues him; and life keeps putting them in the same place at the same time. It turns out Cassius Thorne has access to a state-of-the-art fitness centre that could help her rehabilitate her knee. In exchange, he needs someone to pretend to be his girlfriend to pacify his parents. Itโs a win-win, but we all know that fake feelings donโt always stay fake.
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
Briar is angry. She was angry before her accident channelling that rage into hockey. Now sheโs furious that her entire future has been jeopardised, and she has no control over pursuing it. Sheโs in constant pain from her injury, and she hates showing weakness or vulnerability to anyone as she doesnโt want to become the laughingstock of the university or a pity case for what happened to her. So she hides her emotions, her pain, everything and doesn't open up very easily.
Cassius Thorne is, oh my god, a gooey cinnamon roll. Not only is he popular, a quarterback, and incredibly sexy! But heโs sweet and cute and flirty, with a smirk that can melt your panties. Heโs the typical type of man written by women, because of course heโs rocking an eight-pack and is sexy as hell, BUT I AM ALL HERE FOR IT!
I really liked how their relationship developed. It never felt rushed or forced, these two were just comfortable with each other and you could see how much they enjoyed each otherโs company and how simply being around each other calmed them down. The relationship just felt real, meaningful, and realistic. Their emotional connection, the way they help each other through low points, and are thrilled for the other during the high points, was sweet.
I need to commend these two authors for taking two of my FAVOURITE tropes (and one normally only seen in Fantasy) and finding a way to put them into this romance... They share a bath and SHE HOLDS A KNIFE TO HIS THROAT! It was perfection! It's the stuff that made me devour this in one sitting. Just the quick, fun, real, emotional read I needed... everything!
One of my main issues though is that I wanted a cameo from Wren or Stone, I wanted to revisit them for a moment. But there was no mention of them at all, so it almost felt like this wasn't even the same universe as the previous book, just a random book that had the same university. I would have believed it if I had been told this was a complete standalone. (Though...Evan is mentioned in passing)
On the bright side, Iโve seen too many authors stretch this kind of book into multiple books (S. Massery herself being one of them) and I think I prefer something like this. The fast-paced story concludes at the end with a nice Epilogue wrap-up.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ University Romance
โถ Sports Romance (Hockey and Football)
โถ She Falls First - He Falls Harder
โถ Tending to Injuries
โถ Fake Dating
โถ Poor Girl, Rich Boy
โถ Black Cat X Golden Retriever (Reverse Grumpy Sunshine)
and ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Nicknames
โท Undressing Help
โท Hand Necklaces
โท Mine
โท Spicy/Steamy Water Scene
โท Share a Bath
โท Beg Me
โท Knife to the Throat
โท "Hold on to the..."
All in all, while the twist at the end wasnโt hard to see coming, and the ending felt slightly rushed and I wanted a bit more scenes of them IN the REAL relationship once they went "all in" I still really enjoyed this!
So if you like a grumpy black cat with claws who falls for a sexy golden retriever, and want banter and spice, I definitely recommend picking this up!
Thank you to ValentinePR, S. Massey and S.J. Sylvis for the gifted copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Murder