Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Locked Hearts

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Okay, okay. I’m a sucker for certain tropes. I’m totally going to admit it. That’s totally the reason I snapped this book up.

It’s dark!

Our FMC has gone through some deep, dark stuff!

It takes place at a Catholic boarding school!

It’s bully RH with mm content and a little bit of ff!

Oh, a little professor/student cum priest/penitent action?

Oh, and it’s got a secret society twist?

Well, heck. Count me in, sugar. All of that is like catnip to me.

I gotta tell you: It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad, either!

It’s got some obvious flaws in copy editing and proofreading, and the writing is a bit immature. There are some jumps between scenes that don’t make a lot of sense or leave plot holes. These mistakes aren’t things that can’t be fixed with time and experience by the authors. Both Amber Nicole and Jenn Bullard have room to grow in their writing when it comes to this series and I’m sure they’ll come back in the second book with the notes in hand from the reviewers of this installment and it’ll make editing the second installment that much easier and the read will be that much smoother. I’m a big believer in growth.

The bones of the story are good. The tropes and fun stuff this book is framed around are sound and have the makings of being an excellent series. The characters have the outline of being fantastic characters. Therein lies the issue: It’s all potential unrealized. Everything about this book has the potential to be great, but this book reads like the rough draft of what will eventually be a fantastic book once everything is fully fleshed out and realized.

Some proofreading, copy editing, and content editing would smooth out the continuity, spelling errors, grammar issues, and plot holes. The authors spending some more time with their characters, fleshing them out and bringing them from mere outlines to full realization, would definitely make this book among some of the more excellent novels in this genre.

What's great is even with the deficits this first installment has, I still enjoyed the read for what it was. It’s still a story that intrigues me and I enjoyed reading simply for what it was. It simply could’ve been much better.

I was provided with a copy of this title by the authors and Peachy Keen AS. All opinions and views expressed in this review are my own. Thank you.

File Under: Alphabet Soup Romances/Polyamorous Romances/Contemporary Romance/Dark Romance/Gothic/LGBTQ Romance/Romance Series/Read at Your Own Risk Romance/RH Romance/Why Choose Romance/Spice Level 3/Secret Society/High School or Boarding School