Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Temperance

After so, so, so so so long, we finally get Toby and Blaise’s story. Something has been brewing between these two since the end of the Reckless Damned series and through the first two of the books in this Damned Connections series. By the time author Lark Taylor got to the end of the previous book, Justice, I was positively foaming at the mouth for this book and I can’t help but wonder if that’s where I went wrong, because I loved this book but it just wasn’t the story I thought Toby and Blaise deserved.

This has nothing to do with Taylor’s talents as a storyteller: As per usual, Lark wrote a great story that stands up to most criticism. The problem I see is that it’s standing up against her other works and the background story arc between Toby and Blaise and this book just falls a little short of doing either justice. We have waited a long time for this story and that deserved a big payoff, but there was just too much going on in this book to devote it all to Toby and Blaise’s love story.

It has a rough, if sexy, take-off, but an amazing landing. The pacing seems stuttered because this book covers a longer time period than most of Taylor’s books and there’s a lot of things that need to happen and a lot of stuff to work through, as well as many sublime spicy scenes written in (and they’re hot, trust). New characters are introduced and we see newer characters again in preparation for the next book in this series and the new series that’s coming up.

It’s just a lot of material for a book I felt should’ve been dedicated almost entirely to the romance between Toby and Blaise, because if anyone deserves that treatment it’s these two. They have had an epic story behind the scenes and I just wanted more of them. That doesn’t mean this book isn’t fantastic, because I’ve yet to read a Lark Taylor book I didn’t love, but it does mean I couldn’t have loved it more.

I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Book Series/Found Family/Gay Romance/Kindle Unlimited/BDSM Romance/LGBTQ Romance/MM Romance/Paranormal Romance/Romance Series/Spice Level 3/Urban Fantasy/Vampire Fiction