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Caitlin (The Love Librarian)'s Reviews > Pen Pal
Pen Pal
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Pen Pal is the (previously marketed) dark romance of Aiden and Kayla. The blurb initially led readers to believe this would be a story about a woman whose husband died, with her subsequently receiving letters from a guy at the local prison named “Dante�. Now, I’m going to break down the issues I (me, myself and I) had with this book. We’ll start with the egregiously deceptive marketing faux pas, then move to the substance of the story and the authors lack of trigger warnings when this all first started. Spoiler tags are added throughout this review. If you don’t want to read this, please just move along and leave the nasty comments for someone who cares.
Marketing Faux Pas
The book cover itself is objectively hot, and just about what we’d expect from what’s been marketed as a dark romance, right? The author herself in a Facebook post on January 27, 2022, posted a “surprise cover reveal�, stating that the book was “a standalone dark romance�. There was nothing about a “non-traditional romance� or a “non-traditional HEA�.
On July 20, 2022, the author posted about ARC reader sign-ups on her author FB page. Again, no mentions about it being a “non-traditional romance� or “non-traditional HEA�.
In the author’s FB reader group, prior to release, the author posted stating that she was getting a lot of worried questions on whether Pen Pal had an HEA or not. Her answer? Not a traditional one. She goes on to say a whole lot of other stuff about the writing process and how you should go in blind. This post, again, didn’t really answer the YES/NO question regarding HEAs, nor did it address or even hint at any potential trigger warnings the book may contain. Stating a book is “dark� ain’t enough. But we’ll get there.
ARCs were sent out late, about a week before the book was released. This was the “Note from the Author� in the beginning:
Let’s discuss what a non-traditional romance/HEA is�.oh wait, there’s no such thing. HEAs, or “happily ever afters� are not something that authors should take lightly when writing something they are marketing as a romance. Even something labeled a dark romance has an HEA or an HFN (happy for now) for the couple. However, calling your book “non-traditional� doesn’t make it acceptable. What this does is confuse your established romance readers and skirts around the answer of what the heck your book should be classified as. If you’re going to subvert the genre, be clear and be descriptive. Tell your readers that a non-traditional HEA means (view spoiler) Tell your readers that the book has (view spoiler) so they aren’t walking into your book blind. OR, how about you just label the book into the genre that it actually is.
After I finished my review of Pen Pal, I was very confused and highly upset. I’d just finished something that was not at all what it was marketed as for the better part of a year. I’d read something with a shit ton of triggers that were not explicitly listed in the author’s note. Further, I’d wasted my time. The PR company contacted me about my initial spoiler-y review, to which I replied I would be posting it at a later date, and that they should be careful about sending out/marketing books under an incorrect genre. To my surprise, the PR company actually apologized and stated that they would absolutely do better in the future to ensure they properly do their research when it comes to JT’s books. The PR company had received the book so late from the author that they hadn’t had time to do a read through. Next thing you know, the author changed the genre to paranormal erotic thriller (way more accurate), and added a list of explicit trigger warnings to her website, and I believe to the author’s note in the beginning of the finished copies.
HOWEVER, the author continues to use romance and dark romance tags on IG posts, and her reader fans continue to tell people this is a romance and when asked if it has an HEA, the general answer is “I don’t want to spoil it, just go in blind." Ok, if you can’t just straight up say YES/NO when someone asks whether it’s an HEA…IT DOES NOT HAVE AN HEA. Period.
Had I not said anything on ŷ after my readthrough of the book, the PR company would’ve never known what this book was truly about, and people would’ve picked up this book and been disappointed because they wanted a romance, and that ain’t what this is. NEWSFLASH � lots of cringey sex scenes with bunny/lion king references doesn’t equal romance. It’s just sex.
I genuinely hope the author is more transparent in future releases that stray from her typical mafia romance reads, because we’re not stupid. If it’s a romance, it’s a romance. Don’t attempt to profit on your thriller from the romance base. Just be up front with your audience.
The Story
The story itself just wasn’t great to me. And that’s ok. The TL;DR version is that (view spoiler)
The paranormal aspect was meh. All it did was set up a lot of Sixth Sense-ish vibes that left you going, “what the fuck is going on�.
The heroine, Kayla, had no personality.
The “hot sex� was cringey sex. My lady bits didn’t even tingle. The bunny/lion thing was just weird, and the primal play was meh. Outside of the cringey sex, there wasn’t really much of a connection between Aiden and Kayla in my eyes. They just fucked and that was it. (view spoiler)
The big reveal towards the end about (view spoiler)
The “pen pal� aspect of it all was grossly oversold. There were maybe a handful of letters that (view spoiler)
I needed more from the ending than (view spoiler)
This was not the masterpiece I went in thinking it to be. It was a book that had a lot of sex scenes thrown in to attract romance readers and deter from the fact that this was really a paranormal thriller with a tragic ending. Again, the author should’ve just been straight up with that.
No Trigger Warnings
As stated above, this book did not have explicit trigger warnings prior to my ARC review. Let me explain why trigger warnings for this story were necessary.
Reason #1 � Miscarriage. There was an on-page scene describing (not super graphic, but enough that you got the picture) a traumatic miscarriage. (view spoiler) I have had SOOOO many women message me in gratitude because they are not in the mindset right now to read miscarriage due to it being an issue they recently faced. Miscarriage is SO common amongst women, and when a book is pushed as a romance (which is dominated by women readers), you absolutely need to include miscarriage as a trigger warning. Fuck not wanting it to be a spoiler, you have a responsibility to inform your audience of romance readers on what triggering topics your book may include. Miscarriage is one of them.
Reason #2 � Domestic Violence/Abuse. In addition to being a (view spoiler), the heroine’s husband was abusive. As someone who was in a domestic violence relationship and got out, I prefer to know before reading a “romance� that this topic will be addressed so that I can mentally prepare myself. I had several people message me explaining they didn’t want to read this because the depiction of abusive partners is something that is a trigger for them.
Reason #3 � Mental Illness Representation. Don’t even get me started on the way that the husband’s (view spoiler) was portrayed in this book. Regardless, the fact that this was in this book is a trigger for a lot of people. I have several friends who have (view spoiler) family members, and reading a “romance� that deals with this topic hits too close to home for them. Mention it in your content warning, it’s not hard.
Readers acknowledging their boundaries doesn’t make them “sensitive�. It means they have the courage to know what works for them and what doesn’t. Any time an author says, “my book isn’t for sensitive readers,� they are dismissing people who simply want to know what a book is truly about before diving in. It grinds my gears when I see all the super fans telling people to go in blind. STOP DOING THAT. Going in blind is not something that all readers can do.
SUMMARY - The best thing that came from me speaking up was the author at least adding a few more explicit trigger warnings to her final copy. It was too late for me since I’d already read it and the damage was done, but hopefully knowing before reading continues to help future readers. Also, she “changed� the genre of the book so it’s no longer considered a romance, though a lot of people still don’t know this because she continues to use romance hashtags and a lot of her fans are still pushing this as a romance book in romance reader groups on FB. My trust in this author was greatly diminished. Trigger warnings exist for a reason. Genre classification exists for a reason. Sensitivity readers exist for a reason. There’s no reason to be ignorant in 2022, absolutely none.
Marketing Faux Pas
The book cover itself is objectively hot, and just about what we’d expect from what’s been marketed as a dark romance, right? The author herself in a Facebook post on January 27, 2022, posted a “surprise cover reveal�, stating that the book was “a standalone dark romance�. There was nothing about a “non-traditional romance� or a “non-traditional HEA�.
On July 20, 2022, the author posted about ARC reader sign-ups on her author FB page. Again, no mentions about it being a “non-traditional romance� or “non-traditional HEA�.
In the author’s FB reader group, prior to release, the author posted stating that she was getting a lot of worried questions on whether Pen Pal had an HEA or not. Her answer? Not a traditional one. She goes on to say a whole lot of other stuff about the writing process and how you should go in blind. This post, again, didn’t really answer the YES/NO question regarding HEAs, nor did it address or even hint at any potential trigger warnings the book may contain. Stating a book is “dark� ain’t enough. But we’ll get there.
ARCs were sent out late, about a week before the book was released. This was the “Note from the Author� in the beginning:
Dear reader, this novel is a non-traditional romance with a non-traditional ending and contains content intended for a mature audience only. Due to explicit language, graphic sex, detailed depictions of death and grief, intense power play dynamics, and other possible triggers too numbers to list, it is not suitable for sensitive readers.
Let’s discuss what a non-traditional romance/HEA is�.oh wait, there’s no such thing. HEAs, or “happily ever afters� are not something that authors should take lightly when writing something they are marketing as a romance. Even something labeled a dark romance has an HEA or an HFN (happy for now) for the couple. However, calling your book “non-traditional� doesn’t make it acceptable. What this does is confuse your established romance readers and skirts around the answer of what the heck your book should be classified as. If you’re going to subvert the genre, be clear and be descriptive. Tell your readers that a non-traditional HEA means (view spoiler) Tell your readers that the book has (view spoiler) so they aren’t walking into your book blind. OR, how about you just label the book into the genre that it actually is.
After I finished my review of Pen Pal, I was very confused and highly upset. I’d just finished something that was not at all what it was marketed as for the better part of a year. I’d read something with a shit ton of triggers that were not explicitly listed in the author’s note. Further, I’d wasted my time. The PR company contacted me about my initial spoiler-y review, to which I replied I would be posting it at a later date, and that they should be careful about sending out/marketing books under an incorrect genre. To my surprise, the PR company actually apologized and stated that they would absolutely do better in the future to ensure they properly do their research when it comes to JT’s books. The PR company had received the book so late from the author that they hadn’t had time to do a read through. Next thing you know, the author changed the genre to paranormal erotic thriller (way more accurate), and added a list of explicit trigger warnings to her website, and I believe to the author’s note in the beginning of the finished copies.
HOWEVER, the author continues to use romance and dark romance tags on IG posts, and her reader fans continue to tell people this is a romance and when asked if it has an HEA, the general answer is “I don’t want to spoil it, just go in blind." Ok, if you can’t just straight up say YES/NO when someone asks whether it’s an HEA…IT DOES NOT HAVE AN HEA. Period.
Had I not said anything on ŷ after my readthrough of the book, the PR company would’ve never known what this book was truly about, and people would’ve picked up this book and been disappointed because they wanted a romance, and that ain’t what this is. NEWSFLASH � lots of cringey sex scenes with bunny/lion king references doesn’t equal romance. It’s just sex.
I genuinely hope the author is more transparent in future releases that stray from her typical mafia romance reads, because we’re not stupid. If it’s a romance, it’s a romance. Don’t attempt to profit on your thriller from the romance base. Just be up front with your audience.
The Story
The story itself just wasn’t great to me. And that’s ok. The TL;DR version is that (view spoiler)
The paranormal aspect was meh. All it did was set up a lot of Sixth Sense-ish vibes that left you going, “what the fuck is going on�.
The heroine, Kayla, had no personality.
The “hot sex� was cringey sex. My lady bits didn’t even tingle. The bunny/lion thing was just weird, and the primal play was meh. Outside of the cringey sex, there wasn’t really much of a connection between Aiden and Kayla in my eyes. They just fucked and that was it. (view spoiler)
The big reveal towards the end about (view spoiler)
The “pen pal� aspect of it all was grossly oversold. There were maybe a handful of letters that (view spoiler)
I needed more from the ending than (view spoiler)
This was not the masterpiece I went in thinking it to be. It was a book that had a lot of sex scenes thrown in to attract romance readers and deter from the fact that this was really a paranormal thriller with a tragic ending. Again, the author should’ve just been straight up with that.
No Trigger Warnings
As stated above, this book did not have explicit trigger warnings prior to my ARC review. Let me explain why trigger warnings for this story were necessary.
Reason #1 � Miscarriage. There was an on-page scene describing (not super graphic, but enough that you got the picture) a traumatic miscarriage. (view spoiler) I have had SOOOO many women message me in gratitude because they are not in the mindset right now to read miscarriage due to it being an issue they recently faced. Miscarriage is SO common amongst women, and when a book is pushed as a romance (which is dominated by women readers), you absolutely need to include miscarriage as a trigger warning. Fuck not wanting it to be a spoiler, you have a responsibility to inform your audience of romance readers on what triggering topics your book may include. Miscarriage is one of them.
Reason #2 � Domestic Violence/Abuse. In addition to being a (view spoiler), the heroine’s husband was abusive. As someone who was in a domestic violence relationship and got out, I prefer to know before reading a “romance� that this topic will be addressed so that I can mentally prepare myself. I had several people message me explaining they didn’t want to read this because the depiction of abusive partners is something that is a trigger for them.
Reason #3 � Mental Illness Representation. Don’t even get me started on the way that the husband’s (view spoiler) was portrayed in this book. Regardless, the fact that this was in this book is a trigger for a lot of people. I have several friends who have (view spoiler) family members, and reading a “romance� that deals with this topic hits too close to home for them. Mention it in your content warning, it’s not hard.
Readers acknowledging their boundaries doesn’t make them “sensitive�. It means they have the courage to know what works for them and what doesn’t. Any time an author says, “my book isn’t for sensitive readers,� they are dismissing people who simply want to know what a book is truly about before diving in. It grinds my gears when I see all the super fans telling people to go in blind. STOP DOING THAT. Going in blind is not something that all readers can do.
SUMMARY - The best thing that came from me speaking up was the author at least adding a few more explicit trigger warnings to her final copy. It was too late for me since I’d already read it and the damage was done, but hopefully knowing before reading continues to help future readers. Also, she “changed� the genre of the book so it’s no longer considered a romance, though a lot of people still don’t know this because she continues to use romance hashtags and a lot of her fans are still pushing this as a romance book in romance reader groups on FB. My trust in this author was greatly diminished. Trigger warnings exist for a reason. Genre classification exists for a reason. Sensitivity readers exist for a reason. There’s no reason to be ignorant in 2022, absolutely none.
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message 1:
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Violet
(new)
Aug 11, 2022 01:38PM
Thank you for spoiling this. I wanted to read this until I heard there was a non traditional HEA. I absolutely HATE when authors market a book as romance when it clearly is NOT. Just be honest and say there's a love story in the story but it's not a romance. Otherwise it comes off as deceptive and I don't trust authors that do that.
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Violet wrote: "Thank you for spoiling this. I wanted to read this until I heard there was a non traditional HEA. I absolutely HATE when authors market a book as romance when it clearly is NOT. Just be honest and ..." You’re welcome! I know people are upset b it the author should’ve been more upfront.
NO! I was excited for this. :(
Can I message you to ask what the TW are?
Romance Schmomance (Malia) wrote: "Can I message you to ask what the TW are?" You absolutely can! You can message me here on ŷ if you can or message me on IG!
Monika wrote: "NO! I was excited for this. :("I was, too but it ended up not being what the author advertised it to be in the blurb.
Hey! Would you mind messaging me spoilers?🫣
CourtRocks (Villains Do It Better) wrote: "Hey! Would you mind messaging me spoilers?🫣" Sure! Do you have an IG? Not sure how to message on here.
Yessss I think I recognize you from hot mammas too! Imma pm you on fb and hopefully it's your profile🤣
so the actual ARC process is that readers get the book early for buzz. So I don't think you owe this author any kind of silence. This is her book. It is out in the world, and trust me, readers are going to want to know about this. If she didn't want anyone to know, there wouldn't have been any ARCs. her asking you to remove an accurate description of the plot of the book seems very wrong to me. (I saw your review before you took it all down)
Ugh, she did that misleading marketing thing with Perfect Strangers too. Don’t call it a romance if it doesn’t have an HEA. Simple as that.
JenReadsRomance wrote: "so the actual ARC process is that readers get the book early for buzz. So I don't think you owe this author any kind of silence. This is her book. It is out in the world, and trust me, readers are ..." Thank you for this! I think given HOW misleading the blurb and cover are, people should know, and I do not regret sharing my thoughts. I will definitely be adding them back after release day because there are so many who want and need to know before going into this book.
Casey wrote: "Ugh, she did that misleading marketing thing with Perfect Strangers too. Don’t call it a romance if it doesn’t have an HEA. Simple as that." Agreed. To be fair, she's now changed her description of the book in her ŷ comment to "erotic thriller", but I think it needs to be shared everywhere on her social medias/marketing emails that it's no longer being called a romance. I think readers who are expecting a romance will feel duped and emotionally manipulated (several who read the ARC beside me already feel this way).
Caitlin (The Love Librarian) wrote: "JenReadsRomance wrote: "so the actual ARC process is that readers get the book early for buzz. So I don't think you owe this author any kind of silence. This is her book. It is out in the world, an..."I would be setting a timer for midnight on release day. I am so petty like that.
btw, even erotic thriller is wrong. this is straight up horror. and you know what, THERE'S A MARKET FOR THAT, so why call it what it's not? utterly confusing
whew. this is a real service you have provided!
I can't believe she asked you to remove spoilers 🙄 after reading this and seeing how she intentionally mislead readers on IG about this book, I'm putting her on my never again list.
Thank you for the heads up. The teasers for this made me think it was a dark romance, so I had this on my radar. I didn't get to read the spoiler review but even with the edit, I think I'll pass on this one.
I’ve just finished and wanna cry in frustration. I expected a pen pal dark romance, I don’t read paranormal and I’m so annoyed and still so so confused with what I just read
I've read and liked this author previously but knowing that she doesn't want spoiler reviews out there (MARKED as spoilers) makes me question if I want to read her again. ARCs go out in the world and then reviewers do our thing, including spoiler reviews - particularly when it's something we think other readers should know about. I didn't see the previous form this review was in but I don't even need to to know I don't want to read it now. If she didn't want reviews she shouldn't have sent ARCs out.
Megan wrote: "I’ve just finished and wanna cry in frustration. I expected a pen pal dark romance, I don’t read paranormal and I’m so annoyed and still so so confused with what I just read"That is exactly how I felt when I read it. I had to take a day to process how upsetting and misleading the book was before I could move on to another book. How we feel is exactly why the book's marketing is a problem.
JenReadsRomance wrote: "Caitlin (The Love Librarian) wrote: "JenReadsRomance wrote: "so the actual ARC process is that readers get the book early for buzz. So I don't think you owe this author any kind of silence. This is..." Because the romance genre is one of the biggest sellers out there. She wants the benefits of marketing it as such. It's manipulative and deceptive. And the fact that she's done it more than once makes her an author I will never trust. Kudos to her for creativity and writing what she wants. I do not applaud intentional deception, though.
Thank you so much for warning us about the book. It's imperative that an author should responsibly label trigger warnings and especially label and market a book that fits the genre. I blindly preordered the book before seeing her posts that it was a non trad hea. That made me nervous but I'm glad that I read the review and cancelled my preorder. I'm more upset about the mislabelling than the actual book itself. Its a betrayal of trust because the hea is important and fixed in romance that's the one thing you can't change and I'm sorry but a tragedy is not a definition of the hea. If she originally promoted it as a horror/thriller/with romantic elements she would still get interest in the book from her romance audience. We do read outside the genre. The go in blind to appreciate the twists when you're marketing it as a non trad romance misrepresents her book to her readers and she is going to get a backlash.
Has wrote: "Thank you so much for warning us about the book. It's imperative that an author should responsibly label trigger warnings and especially label and market a book that fits the genre. I blindly preor..." I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Violet wrote: "JenReadsRomance wrote: "Caitlin (The Love Librarian) wrote: "JenReadsRomance wrote: "so the actual ARC process is that readers get the book early for buzz. So I don't think you owe this author any ..." 1000% agree.
Thanks for the heads up. Will be avoiding this one. I’m always on the lookout for a good pen pal story too.
French Press Bookworm Blog wrote: "Thanks for the heads up. Will be avoiding this one. I’m always on the lookout for a good pen pal story too." The Lie by Karla Sorensen is a good one. It isn't written in letter format but they've been chatting for awhile and don't realize who each other is at first. A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver is a good one as well. Their relationship starts in a chat room so it's a variation on the pen pal trope.
Please could you message me spoilers.
Thanks for this... I was waiting for this book thinking it would be similarly dark as her Queens and Monsters series, but now I am very hesitant to dive into it on launch day. I will wait to see what more reviews are saying. I’m not sensitive but also, I’m not in to paranormal or thrillers. If this isn’t a romance as you say, then it isn’t for me. 😢 but thanks for your honesty. We don’t always get that with arcs.
As to social media, no warnings on insta and she has turned off comments for her posts. Feels sneaky, like she doesn’t want to engage with disappointed readers. Hmmm.
If she's turned off the comments on her social media then she's going to face a shock on release day especially with the reviews on amazon... If only she marketed it as a non romance from the beginning she would have avoided this. I've seen this time and time again and the bigger the author the bigger the backlash.
Hi! I've added you as a friend, can you message me with more informations? I don't mind spoilers :) thank you!! xx
Greta wrote: "Hi! I've added you as a friend, can you message me with more informations? I don't mind spoilers :) thank you!! xx"Just accepted your friend request, feel free to message me! Not sure how to message people on here haha
Ugh what a shame. The blurb made it seem like it was going to be a good dark romance.
French Press Bookworm Blog wrote: "Thanks for the heads up. Will be avoiding this one. I’m always on the lookout for a good pen pal story too."there are so many good epistolary romance novels! we had an episode of fated mates about it, but it won't let me put in the link. if you google epistolary romance fated mates, it will be the first link, probably.
Kate wrote: "Thanks for the heads up on this!!!"You’re welcome!
Thank you for your review. I preordered this months ago but I will be canceling it. Nothing against the author but this does not sound like the type of book I’m looking to read.
I can totally understand why some readers feel that this may have a HEA albeit it not 'traditional' however I totally disagree because this is about several issues that concerns the nature of the HEA and the conventions of romance. It is required that it has to have a HEA. The spoilers in this book was a tragedy from the beginning and I say readers of this genre would agree. This is a book with romantic elements. It is not a romance. It did not have a HEA which she initially used. The HEA is about hope. It is about a romantic pairing that overcome obstacles and gaining happiness. There is also HFN (Happy for now) that is ongoing. And your example of a mystery and who dunnit is perfect because this book was marketed as a romance. There are tags on her social media as #darkromance. She has marketed this with with a non traditional romance/HEA. Those are genre hallmarks for the expectations of a happy ending. Even if its dark. This is exactly like reading a mystery book without knowing the murderer is.
This isn't a personal attack onto the author but this is also a business. We are consumers and when an author sells a book that belongs in a genre that guides what a reader wants they certainly expect that they would be getting a romance. If she only set out from the beginning that this was an erotic pnr/horror thriller with romantic elements. Then she would have avoided this backlash. Because this book actually fits into the definition of a psychological thriller. There are unexpected twists, tension and shocks. Not only would she still attract romance readers because we do actually read outside this genre but she could potentially reach another readership but also gives them the correct labelling and marketing of the book.
I'd also like to note that over the past few years her last two series were incredibly popular and that has reached a wider audience but they're mainly romance readers. I adored those books and have constantly recommended them to friends and on social media. They were fun, zingy and entertaining. But mis marketing a book like this I would like to be warned because I'm expecting a romance. Not a thriller or a bait and switch which is not only depressing but its disheartening.
These are established norms and conventions that they expect and that is why genre exist to guide us. There's a lot of ignorance and dismissal about this. But as a romance reader I would like to be warned if this was sold as a romance. And the sad thing is there will be people expecting it as such. There will be bad reviews and kindle returns. This will hurt the author and I hope she doesn't get hate mail because I know most authors get that already in general. But I've seen this so many times. I am a romance reader for over 30 years and read old skool romances to the ones that are out today. Tropes and trends change, and get recycled and when an author does this and I've read books where couple dies at the end, the heroine had to go back to her time in the future and there was one book where the hero died ala Nick Sparks style of old age in the epilogue! And those authors and they were big name ones got a huge backlash.
As a reader you get invested in that romance. It's subjective because you're so into the book and characters but when the ending goes uh no sorry no HEA because there's a tragic thing happening the author has betrayed the trust of that reader because the one thing they know like reading a mystery is that there is no HEA or killer found. Its cutting away satisfaction and closure of the story. In addition the narrative structure of this book made you believe there would be HEA. Romance is also about the journey getting to that HEA. Instead it shifts that structure within another genre with the twists. It is misleading.
I didn't want to post this long but the reviewer in this instance is correct because she is warning those who would be unhappy about this. There's no hiding from it and I'm sorry the author is going to face a backlash but like others before her they should be aware that messing around with conventions and not clearly setting out what the book Is about is going to upset people.
I forgot to add that yes getting an ARC you should avoid spoilers but for me as long as the reviewer hides them behind a tag then it's fine especially when there's trigger warnings and I'm sorry this book may not get into details of the trauma but there are readers who may vary from their requirements from a mention to a description. Its safer to list them. You really really don't want to trigger anyone.
Has wrote: "I can totally understand why some readers feel that this may have a HEA albeit it not 'traditional' however I totally disagree because this is about several issues that concerns the nature of the H..." 100% agree. Being a domestic violence survivor, that is something I like to know about before going into my books. When I read this there were no trigger warnings, so it felt like a slap in the face. Even with added trigger warnings and the author trying to change the genre at the last minute, there are a lot of people still thinking this will be a pen pal dark romance.
Thank you so much for this review. I've had this. Ook on my TBR for quite a while, but I like to read reviews prior to me actually picking it up on or near release day. I will not be reading this as I am a die-hard romance reader. I require a HEA. I like dark romance, comedy romance, and sugar sweetness, too. What I do NOT like is being completely misled by the blurb, category description and the author's hype. Nope. I'm out.
Thanks sooo much for the heads-up! Erotic thriller is not my jam so I’ll be staying away from this one. Makes me sad because I honestly assumed this book was entire a romance nov, as the author as been known for!
Thank you for this review! I won’t be reading it.
@Saunders I am member of her FB group and follow her in IG and until a few days ago she promoted it as DARK ROMANCE ...i dont understand why you are blatantly lying
I totally disagree using the terms HEA and Romance albeit tagged with untraditional. But it is still using those terms. She is also responsible for marketing. She is self publishing the book and has tagged the book using #darkromance. The cover looks like an antihero mafia toned book which the premise of the story isn't the case. There are readers who have read her Carnal and Queens and Monsters books and I loved those who are expecting the same and will get a shock. In addition amazon will probably recommend this book to readers who have read her previous books thinking it has a HEA and I disrespectfully disagree. That entire premise is tragic. There is no hope it was just a dark tragic love story that would work as an erotic thriller with pnr elements. But the nature of the conventions that defines Romance which by the way has been set for the last few centuries, analysed and explored with academia. There are university modules that actually states the HEA is needed and it has to have a hopeful ending. There was no hope in this book and the HEA doesn't have to be perfect but it means that the protagonists overcame obstacles and even though they may face other issues like disability or infertility, they are committed to each other. And I know there are similar books that had this similar ending. I think Madeline Sheehan had an MC book with the exact ending. It wasn't regarded a romance by most. Because they felt cheated and upset and it was unhappy. A lot of people want escapism with the safety of the knowledge that there's a HEA. If the author had labelled it clearly as a thriller from the beginning and that it had romantic elements that is a much a clearer term than using HEA or romance.
Hi, thank you for this helpful review. I would like to know if it ends with HEA? I would appreciate it if you can share here! Or if one of the main characters die, cheat or MC separate? Thanks again
Keeping my 👀 out for your original review with the spoilers.
When will you be posting your spoiler review?
Shakoria Annice wrote: "When will you be posting your spoiler review?" Soon!
