Badlands

Ugh, this was such a frustrating book. The MCs were likeable and had good chemistry, but there was too much Info Dumping at the beginning that could have been woven into the story more naturally. Also, the civilian working with the cop trope has two hazards, both of which are on display here: civilian keeps too many secrets from cop because Reasons, and civilian unnecessarily puts himself into danger because Other Reasons. Finally, the pacing was odd and it felt like a scene was missing at the end You know, the one where the two MCs actually say I love you to each other, and the misgivings and mistrust that have threatened their relationship are directly addressed? Completely missing here. Civilian leaves cop a note telling him he loves him, cop tells unconscious civilian lying in a hospital bed that he loves him too, and then we cut to epilogue of happy couple hosting a BBQ. I liked the paranormal aspect of the book, and perhaps if the relationship drama is held to a minimum in the sequel, [b:The Rising 44012425 The Rising (Badlands, #2) Morgan Brice https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1550182143s/44012425.jpg 68427256], it could be worth the time and money. But there were too many problems with this book to make me want to rush out and read it. NB: I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley.

 
 
I pretty much love anything that Natalie Bennett writes. Anyone that follows my reviews is very aware of that fact. I fangirl just about every book she writes and that I get the pleasure of reading and reviewing. And I will again be fangirling over this one. In fact, this may be my favorite Natalie Bennett book TO DATE. It was the same dark and twisted mindf-ckery that Miz Bennett is known for and then some...





~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
It's always hard for me to review a book like this. I don't want to say too much and spoil anything but I also want to give readers a sample of what to expect. I will say that it was very well written. Like I mentioned, probably my favorite book to date from this author. The pace was fantastic. The plot was engaging and had me hooked from page one. It was dark. It was twisted. It was gritty. It was gross. It was f-cked up. It had twists and turns. Blood and gore. Pleasure and pain. and I LOVED every single minute of it. I really wish I had book two already now because I NEED to know WTF is going down.


~HERO~
Romero...he was the devil himself. A totally sexy as sin psychopath. He owned it. He didn't make any excuses for it. He reveled in it. He claimed Calista as his own right from the start. I loved him. I don't know what that says about me and I don't rightly care (lol). I can't wait until book two to see what he is hiding. 


~HEROINE~
Calista...the perfect other half to Romero. Not sure out of these two which was the more f-cked up. Cali was her own brand of psycho. She didn't quite own it as much as Romero. But she was getting there. I loved her character and hope she gets the chance to exact much more revenge in the next book.


 


~SIDE CHARACTERS~
This one had a good cast of secondary characters. There wasn't a lot of them but the three that feature heavily were all very intriguing. I wouldn't mind seeing each one get a book. Of course, I suppose that depends on what happens to them in book two. They may not even be still breathing by the end of that one.


~HEAT LEVEL~
This one was medium hottish. The sex scenes were hot, and the frequency felt appropriate for the story. This couple had crazy hot on page chemistry and their connection was very insta-lust.


~ANGST LEVEL~
Low. I didn't find this one angsty at all. It really wasn't the type of book that uses angst to move the story along. There also wasn't any OW or OM drama. 


~IN THE END~
I loved this one. I have already said that a few times in this review but it was worth mentioning again. I have a thing for dark romances. The darker and twisted they are the more I seem to enjoy them and Natalie Bennett knows her way around twisted for sure. Everything about this one from the writing itself, to the plot, to the character development, was fantastic and shows me that this author just keeps learning and improving with every book that she releases. This one gets TWO huge thumbs up from yours truly.