~ LOVELY AND SWEET ROMANCE WITH AN ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIC HERO (4 stars) ~
I had heard (or rather, read) really great things about this book, but after starting it I was disappointed and expected this to just be an okay read. I'm very, very happy to say that I was wrong! The book starts slowly and it took a little time for me to get into it, but it ended up being an absolutely lovely romance with a hero who gained a permanent spot on my Best Romance Heroes Ever list.
CHARACTERS:
Main Characters: Lucien (27.5), Samantha or Sam (26), Olivia or Ollie (5)
It was slightly disconcerting that the entire story is told from Lucien's (the hero) first person POV, so that took getting used to. One of the greatest - if not the greatest - strengths of this book is Lucien though, so in that sense it actually ends up being a real treat that we're told the story in his voice. He's a very compelling character and is an utter sweetheart with Samantha and Ollie - after he's rethought his decision to kill and drink from Sam, of course ;-). His love for both of them is so strong and so unbelievably heartfelt.
Lucien is not a cookie-cutter hero, which I adored: he's not the possessive alpha who sometimes treats the heroine like crap and is too authoritarian; he's not the sweet beta hero with the "nice guys don't finish last" theme. He's a wonderful mix of both and seems all the more real for it. He's guilt-ridden - and has been for 100+ years - over the death of his family. He's tortured and sees himself as undeserving. He's gentle and caring with Ollie. He's tender and slightly obsessive with Sam. He's ashamed of what he is, angry about having been made into it, regretful about the "dark" years where he was a bit of a shady character. He's a talented violinist and carpenter. He's just straight-up lovely and lovable!
I know some people don't like children in romances, but if an author does it right I absolutely love them. Chalk it up to my gender and the wannabe-mother in me, but I always love reading about the hero's' interactions with the child(ren); warms my heart every time. Ollie provides a lot of great humor and watching her interactions with Lucien will make your heart melt into a big, fat puddle. She's also a well-defined character and seems a person on her own, which is one of the biggest stumbling blocks I find that author's sometimes run into. Olivia is her own entity and very well-written.
Samantha took me awhile to ... get into, I guess would be the term? Not to like or to root for - she's very likable and I loved watching her relationship with Lucien develop. The biggest flaw with her character was that she felt much more inaccessible to me. This was one of the turn-offs at the beginning that had me questioning whether I was going to enjoy the book or not; I felt like I didn't know her, had no sense about who or how she was, and at the beginning we're only seeing her through Lucien's eyes - so yes, she's a happy and bright and sweet person, but she's also nourishment. His stance on that changes, of course, and as he gets to know her better we do as well.
In the end though, I still didn't feel like I knew her as well as Lucien, and frankly how could I when the entire thing is in his first person POV? That is one of the downsides of doing that with romances. I will say that it was a nice change that here it was done with the hero, and not the heroine. Also, to be perfectly honest, Lucien was such a great character that I do feel something would have been lost had we not been given such insight into his thoughts and emotions.
The secondary characters were well-done - most especially Lucien's "family," who are all wonderful. I loved them; the strong ties they all share are very clear and make reading their interactions a delight.
LOVE STORY:
This is mostly a relationship-focused / character-driven book. There is some excitement thrown in towards the end, which felt a little jarring and random, but brings things to a head so I guess is understandable. Overall though, it really centers around the relationships between Lucien and Sam, and Lucien and Ollie. They're great together, I loved watching their romance develop, and there is definitely sizzling chemistry.
The relationship seems very authentic, because not only does the book take place over a longer amount of time than we're used to (~6+ months), but while the tension between them is very well-done and love scenes alive with chemistry, you know that first and foremost it's emotion driving these two together. They don't even sleep together for several months, which IMO fit - she has a young daughter to consider, he doesn't feel right about sleeping with her without her knowing he's a vampire.
I thought Kaye did such a terrific job of showing Lucien's struggle at the beginning between wanting to drink from Sam and wanting to leave her alone because she's Ollie's mom, then wanting to leave her alone because he's falling in love with her. When they have sex, he has to be sure to control himself because his natural instinct is to bite her at the end; I liked that he continues to have to battle this and exert control over himself (though much, much less as time goes on), and it didn't conveniently all of a sudden subside.
CRITICISM:
I really did love the book, but as with most there were certain things I had issues with.
*One of them I already mentioned: feeling that I never really "got" Samantha as much as I would have liked.
* Some things felt very piecemeal. Ex: I was never very clear on what precipitated Lucien leaving New York and going to Detroit. Lucien was turned against his will and we're told throughout he's wanted revenge on his unknown Maker, but that thread ends up just dangling.
* Not everything flowed very smoothly. One example is that we're told Lucien had a very difficult relationship with William, one of his "brothers," but then everything seems to be fine after a brief talk. All happens quite abruptly.
* I loved Lucien's "family," but they were all - aside from William - almost a little too perfect.
* Still don't completely understand how the vampire society is structured - or whether it's like people and there's no one way of doing things and every place / vampire is different.
* We skip over the first few weeks of Lucien and Sam's relationship once they've gotten together. Understandable for the sake of page space, but could have been done more smoothly.
* Sam's father, Joe, was really not developed. He's just kind of ... there.
* Ending felt a little rushed.
* Aside from the Sam-disconnect, my biggest issue is probably that we're not told how their HEA is going to work. (I'm not putting a spoiler alert on this, because is it really coming as a shock to anyone that they end up together?! Please.) Lucien is a vampire, so he can live forever and during that living will always be 27.5 years old ... Sam and Ollie are regular, aging humans. So how is that going to work between Lucien and Sam? They'll be together, then she'll be viewed as a Cougar, and then he'll be seen as a twisted guy who has a thing for elderly women in nursing homes?
QUOTE:
There are great quotes throughout about Lucien's feelings for Sam and Ollie, but that basically makes up half the book, so instead I'm sharing a funny one I liked:
"Yeah. It's happening. 'It' being the fact that I was in love. With a human. Who I had been planning to kill."
BOTTOM LINE:
Definitely read it. Starts off slowly, but begins to pay off very quickly. Overall, the story could have been a little tighter, but it is an absolutely lovely one and supremely enjoyable. I know I'll reread in the future.
I had heard (or rather, read) really great things about this book, but after starting it I was disappointed and expected this to just be an okay read. I'm very, very happy to say that I was wrong! The book starts slowly and it took a little time for me to get into it, but it ended up being an absolutely lovely romance with a hero who gained a permanent spot on my Best Romance Heroes Ever list.
CHARACTERS:
Main Characters: Lucien (27.5), Samantha or Sam (26), Olivia or Ollie (5)
It was slightly disconcerting that the entire story is told from Lucien's (the hero) first person POV, so that took getting used to. One of the greatest - if not the greatest - strengths of this book is Lucien though, so in that sense it actually ends up being a real treat that we're told the story in his voice. He's a very compelling character and is an utter sweetheart with Samantha and Ollie - after he's rethought his decision to kill and drink from Sam, of course ;-). His love for both of them is so strong and so unbelievably heartfelt.
Lucien is not a cookie-cutter hero, which I adored: he's not the possessive alpha who sometimes treats the heroine like crap and is too authoritarian; he's not the sweet beta hero with the "nice guys don't finish last" theme. He's a wonderful mix of both and seems all the more real for it. He's guilt-ridden - and has been for 100+ years - over the death of his family. He's tortured and sees himself as undeserving. He's gentle and caring with Ollie. He's tender and slightly obsessive with Sam. He's ashamed of what he is, angry about having been made into it, regretful about the "dark" years where he was a bit of a shady character. He's a talented violinist and carpenter. He's just straight-up lovely and lovable!
I know some people don't like children in romances, but if an author does it right I absolutely love them. Chalk it up to my gender and the wannabe-mother in me, but I always love reading about the hero's' interactions with the child(ren); warms my heart every time. Ollie provides a lot of great humor and watching her interactions with Lucien will make your heart melt into a big, fat puddle. She's also a well-defined character and seems a person on her own, which is one of the biggest stumbling blocks I find that author's sometimes run into. Olivia is her own entity and very well-written.
Samantha took me awhile to ... get into, I guess would be the term? Not to like or to root for - she's very likable and I loved watching her relationship with Lucien develop. The biggest flaw with her character was that she felt much more inaccessible to me. This was one of the turn-offs at the beginning that had me questioning whether I was going to enjoy the book or not; I felt like I didn't know her, had no sense about who or how she was, and at the beginning we're only seeing her through Lucien's eyes - so yes, she's a happy and bright and sweet person, but she's also nourishment. His stance on that changes, of course, and as he gets to know her better we do as well.
In the end though, I still didn't feel like I knew her as well as Lucien, and frankly how could I when the entire thing is in his first person POV? That is one of the downsides of doing that with romances. I will say that it was a nice change that here it was done with the hero, and not the heroine. Also, to be perfectly honest, Lucien was such a great character that I do feel something would have been lost had we not been given such insight into his thoughts and emotions.
The secondary characters were well-done - most especially Lucien's "family," who are all wonderful. I loved them; the strong ties they all share are very clear and make reading their interactions a delight.
LOVE STORY:
This is mostly a relationship-focused / character-driven book. There is some excitement thrown in towards the end, which felt a little jarring and random, but brings things to a head so I guess is understandable. Overall though, it really centers around the relationships between Lucien and Sam, and Lucien and Ollie. They're great together, I loved watching their romance develop, and there is definitely sizzling chemistry.
The relationship seems very authentic, because not only does the book take place over a longer amount of time than we're used to (~6+ months), but while the tension between them is very well-done and love scenes alive with chemistry, you know that first and foremost it's emotion driving these two together. They don't even sleep together for several months, which IMO fit - she has a young daughter to consider, he doesn't feel right about sleeping with her without her knowing he's a vampire.
I thought Kaye did such a terrific job of showing Lucien's struggle at the beginning between wanting to drink from Sam and wanting to leave her alone because she's Ollie's mom, then wanting to leave her alone because he's falling in love with her. When they have sex, he has to be sure to control himself because his natural instinct is to bite her at the end; I liked that he continues to have to battle this and exert control over himself (though much, much less as time goes on), and it didn't conveniently all of a sudden subside.
CRITICISM:
I really did love the book, but as with most there were certain things I had issues with.
*One of them I already mentioned: feeling that I never really "got" Samantha as much as I would have liked.
* Some things felt very piecemeal. Ex: I was never very clear on what precipitated Lucien leaving New York and going to Detroit. Lucien was turned against his will and we're told throughout he's wanted revenge on his unknown Maker, but that thread ends up just dangling.
* Not everything flowed very smoothly. One example is that we're told Lucien had a very difficult relationship with William, one of his "brothers," but then everything seems to be fine after a brief talk. All happens quite abruptly.
* I loved Lucien's "family," but they were all - aside from William - almost a little too perfect.
* Still don't completely understand how the vampire society is structured - or whether it's like people and there's no one way of doing things and every place / vampire is different.
* We skip over the first few weeks of Lucien and Sam's relationship once they've gotten together. Understandable for the sake of page space, but could have been done more smoothly.
* Sam's father, Joe, was really not developed. He's just kind of ... there.
* Ending felt a little rushed.
* Aside from the Sam-disconnect, my biggest issue is probably that we're not told how their HEA is going to work. (I'm not putting a spoiler alert on this, because is it really coming as a shock to anyone that they end up together?! Please.) Lucien is a vampire, so he can live forever and during that living will always be 27.5 years old ... Sam and Ollie are regular, aging humans. So how is that going to work between Lucien and Sam? They'll be together, then she'll be viewed as a Cougar, and then he'll be seen as a twisted guy who has a thing for elderly women in nursing homes?
QUOTE:
There are great quotes throughout about Lucien's feelings for Sam and Ollie, but that basically makes up half the book, so instead I'm sharing a funny one I liked:
"Yeah. It's happening. 'It' being the fact that I was in love. With a human. Who I had been planning to kill."
BOTTOM LINE:
Definitely read it. Starts off slowly, but begins to pay off very quickly. Overall, the story could have been a little tighter, but it is an absolutely lovely one and supremely enjoyable. I know I'll reread in the future.
"Samantha ... She was the light, and I had been drinking the dark for so very long."
The first time Lucien Demarco sets his eyes on Samantha Sutton, he's blinded by her vibrance, her stunning allure that is so full of life, which is something he lost a long time ago. Her spirit literally glows and yet she's been through so much, too much, which leaves an emptiness in her heart that urges her to push everyone she loves away.
He, initially attracted to her tantalizing scent, catches himself caring for and sympathizing with her and her domestic conflictsand it isn't just the empath in him that's causing this. He is the exact opposite of Sam, the exact opposite of what she needs, but is affected by her in ways he cannot comprehend: a corner of darkness propelled by a beam of light, and an ignition of touch. He can't get involved, not with a prospect so human; having escaped the clutches of a powerful, gang-like network of vampires and fled to Detroit, where he thought he was finally free, he realizes what danger he puts himself and his new "family" in, when long-due vengeance came knocking on his door. And yet the stir in his body and soul is compelling enough for him to wander away from all rational thought.
Sam and Ollie are the only people who have been able to trigger any type of emotion in himat least the only people he's encountered in what seems like an eternity. They renew him. They become him. And with that acknowledgment, he knows he cannot survive without them or ever turn back.
The emotional intensity of this book is so, so powerful. Not only the contemporary-set romance and the steamy chemistry between Sam and Luce, but also the highs and lows of family and self-sacrificeall of it was a turbulent ride. As Lucien relearns the messand utter beautyof humanity through his beloved Sutton girls, he discovers that although they are his dire weakness, they will save himand he, themin the end... and they will forever free each other as well.
The characters, while good together, are not very developed individually. Sam is distant and completely two-dimensional. She's incredibly likablekind, sensitive, gorgeousbut just seems a little too perfect, which I found unpalatable. Fortunately, Forever Freed is narrated by Lucien, who is as flawed as Samantha is faultless; unfortunately, his first-person male perspective is stiff (he is centuries old, after all), overexposed, and irritatingly bleak. I feel he wasn't as sexy and alpha of a vampire hero as he should've been in this story.
The high-action and precarious plot make up for the flat characters, however. I enjoyed the suspense immensely, including the hot love scenes tucked in between. This book is full of untold secrets, vampire gore, and the implications of overcoming temptation in the name of love; a fresh twist on vampire romance!
Pros: Smoldering chemistry between Samantha and Lucien! // Loved Samantha's character // Ollie is adorable // Vampires aren't sparkly and omnipotent // Very realistic and raw portrayal of bloodlust and supernatural danger
Cons: Strange, uncomfortable narration // Stylistically nothing impressive (no specific quotes that stood out to me)
Verdict: While Forever Freed's characters are a bit flimsy and the narration slightly off-key, the acute, powerful storyline and the complexity of Samantha and Lucien's relationship really reverberated with me. Laura Kaye brings us an untraditional paranormal romance with a crucial slant on love and humanity, as well as on the compassion and sheer vulnerability you hold for the one person who has the power to bring you back to life.
Rating: 8 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): An engaging read; highly recommended.
Source: Complimentary copy provided by author, via Romancing the Book, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Laura!).
The first time Lucien Demarco sets his eyes on Samantha Sutton, he's blinded by her vibrance, her stunning allure that is so full of life, which is something he lost a long time ago. Her spirit literally glows and yet she's been through so much, too much, which leaves an emptiness in her heart that urges her to push everyone she loves away.
He, initially attracted to her tantalizing scent, catches himself caring for and sympathizing with her and her domestic conflictsand it isn't just the empath in him that's causing this. He is the exact opposite of Sam, the exact opposite of what she needs, but is affected by her in ways he cannot comprehend: a corner of darkness propelled by a beam of light, and an ignition of touch. He can't get involved, not with a prospect so human; having escaped the clutches of a powerful, gang-like network of vampires and fled to Detroit, where he thought he was finally free, he realizes what danger he puts himself and his new "family" in, when long-due vengeance came knocking on his door. And yet the stir in his body and soul is compelling enough for him to wander away from all rational thought.
Sam and Ollie are the only people who have been able to trigger any type of emotion in himat least the only people he's encountered in what seems like an eternity. They renew him. They become him. And with that acknowledgment, he knows he cannot survive without them or ever turn back.
The emotional intensity of this book is so, so powerful. Not only the contemporary-set romance and the steamy chemistry between Sam and Luce, but also the highs and lows of family and self-sacrificeall of it was a turbulent ride. As Lucien relearns the messand utter beautyof humanity through his beloved Sutton girls, he discovers that although they are his dire weakness, they will save himand he, themin the end... and they will forever free each other as well.
The characters, while good together, are not very developed individually. Sam is distant and completely two-dimensional. She's incredibly likablekind, sensitive, gorgeousbut just seems a little too perfect, which I found unpalatable. Fortunately, Forever Freed is narrated by Lucien, who is as flawed as Samantha is faultless; unfortunately, his first-person male perspective is stiff (he is centuries old, after all), overexposed, and irritatingly bleak. I feel he wasn't as sexy and alpha of a vampire hero as he should've been in this story.
The high-action and precarious plot make up for the flat characters, however. I enjoyed the suspense immensely, including the hot love scenes tucked in between. This book is full of untold secrets, vampire gore, and the implications of overcoming temptation in the name of love; a fresh twist on vampire romance!
Pros: Smoldering chemistry between Samantha and Lucien! // Loved Samantha's character // Ollie is adorable // Vampires aren't sparkly and omnipotent // Very realistic and raw portrayal of bloodlust and supernatural danger
Cons: Strange, uncomfortable narration // Stylistically nothing impressive (no specific quotes that stood out to me)
Verdict: While Forever Freed's characters are a bit flimsy and the narration slightly off-key, the acute, powerful storyline and the complexity of Samantha and Lucien's relationship really reverberated with me. Laura Kaye brings us an untraditional paranormal romance with a crucial slant on love and humanity, as well as on the compassion and sheer vulnerability you hold for the one person who has the power to bring you back to life.
Rating: 8 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): An engaging read; highly recommended.
Source: Complimentary copy provided by author, via Romancing the Book, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Laura!).
