The Sweetest Burn by Jeaniene Frost

Posted July 3, 2017 by Literati Lovers in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

The Sweetest Burn by Jeaniene FrostThe Sweetest Burn by Jeaniene Frost
Also by this author: , Bound by Flames
Published by HQN Books on July 1st 2017
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, General, Contemporary, New Adult, Fantasy, Urban
Pages: 384
ISBN: 9781460392058
Goodreads
two-stars

The breathtaking second novel in New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost's Broken Destiny series finds Ivy and Adrian rekindling their alliance—and passion—as the struggle for the fate of the world begins… 

Conquering a supernatural realm turned out to be easier than getting over a broken heart. But her initial victory has made Ivy a target for revenge, forcing her to reunite with the dangerous—and dangerously sexy—Adrian. Ivy isn't sure which will be harder: finding the hallowed weapon that will repair the crumbling walls between the demon and human realms, or resisting Adrian, who's decided that come hell or high water, he will make Ivy his. 

At first, Adrian tried to resist his feelings for Ivy. Now, determined to break the curse that dooms their love, he's vowed to save her and to have her. If only he can persuade her to forgive his past sins. But defying destiny—and surrendering to the smoldering desire between them—will bring consequences and sacrifices they never imagined…

First off, I hate the cover of this book and the cover of the previous book and the cover of the next book. If Frost hadn’t been the author, the cover would have made me NOT buy the book.

In getting ready for The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2), I listened to the audiobook of Beautiful Ashes (Broken Destiny #1) which I first read in 2014. At that time, I gave it 4.25 stars. After listening to the audiobook I would now give the book three stars because Ivy is so whiny in the audio narration. I still like the worldbuilding of the series, but Ivy is a stupid heroine. I gave the original rating because of the unique worldbuilding. Two biblical lines come together to fight demons. One of those lines is destined to betray the other. The hunt for biblical weapons had such potential. Now for book two, The Sweetest Burn.

I do take umbrage with a heroine who is a history major and has never read the Bible. Hmmm . . .  As a history major myself, there isn’t a world religion I haven’t researched. How does a history major know so little about world mythos and religions? Ivy, the poor girl, is too dense to live. I don’t know know how one of my favorite authors wrote this book. The depth and palpable draw her characters normally have are totally absent in this book. This is the author who created Bones and Vlad and kick-ass women like Cat of the Night Huntress series. Ivy is whiny and her sister Jasmine is nails-on-a-chalkboard whiny. Adrian is a caricature of Frost’s previous alpha males. Vlad and Bones would have scoffed at his vacuous angst. The characters are flat and can’t even be called one-dimensional; furthermore, the evil demon has more depth of personality than any other character. After years of waiting, this book was so not worth the wait. It was a pointless, anticlimactic treasure hunt.

The romance is nonexistent. Ivy is so caught up in her need for Adrian to prove he won’t betray her and that need kills any potential the book has to be good. Prove you won’t betray me and we can have sex. Really? Pathetic!

What makes it worse is the book has basic errors in editing such as characters changing names. A priest who is a minor character has three different names in this book! His name changes from Father Louis to Oliver, to Luis. Harlequin, as the publisher of a book they are selling, failed its consumers. I realize the publishing world has changed since Fan Fiction and self-publishing hit the marketplace. Publishers are all in a rush to put out books to compete with the thousands of ninety-nine cent authors who are gobbling up their market share. I have come to the conclusion that whoever edited this book didn’t read it or give Ms. Frost any feedback. Harlequin, as the publisher, and its employees let this book go to print with continuity errors.

I am usually never this harsh in a review but having waited years for the series to continue only to find this is what the publisher and author served up makes me extremely disappointed. I would have waited longer for a better book since Frost is an extremely talented writer. If you don’t believe me, go read her Night Huntress series which is some of the best paranormal romance written.

two-stars

About Jeaniene Frost

Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series and the Broken Destiny series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her.

For information on Jeaniene’s books, reading the first 20% of each book free, book trailers, deleted scenes, creature mythology, and more, please visit: www.jeanienefrost.com

One response to “The Sweetest Burn by Jeaniene Frost

  1. I appreciate your candor and this honest review. It has been quite a long time waiting for the sequel to follow the first book in this ‘series’. You makes some very good points in your review. I cannot question your disappointment with this type and/or quality of book being put out by an author of MS. Frost’s talent. Very unfortunate since the Night Huntress series is pretty much a gold standard marker in the Paranormal and PNR-romance genres. 🙁

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.