coral reviewed Her Hometown Girl (Belladonna Ink, #3) by Lorelie Brown
None
3 stars
Book 2 is kind of the break from Big Trauma in this series, I guess.
I still like this one—it has the best date activity, hands down, of the entire series (so far?), and both of the main characters are really likable—but like the first book, parts of it make for really unpleasant reading. The book starts with one of the characters leaving an abusive relationship and (this is both a spoiler and something that needs a content warning) being raped by her now ex partner. So that's awful. And I don't like the way the kink the main characters explore feels kind of tied to the previous abuse by the narrative; this isn't something I know a ton about, but I don't? think? it works? that way?
I'll read more books by this author if I come across them, but I'm going to choose a little more carefully from …
Book 2 is kind of the break from Big Trauma in this series, I guess.
I still like this one—it has the best date activity, hands down, of the entire series (so far?), and both of the main characters are really likable—but like the first book, parts of it make for really unpleasant reading. The book starts with one of the characters leaving an abusive relationship and (this is both a spoiler and something that needs a content warning) being raped by her now ex partner. So that's awful. And I don't like the way the kink the main characters explore feels kind of tied to the previous abuse by the narrative; this isn't something I know a ton about, but I don't? think? it works? that way?
I'll read more books by this author if I come across them, but I'm going to choose a little more carefully from now on. I ... just ... I feel like we should be able to have f/f romance without So Much Heavy Shit.
I do want to add, though: while I might want and need fluffy romances that don't hit too close to home, I also think there's value in these existing. Abuse survivors (this book) and people with eating disorders (book one of this series) also deserve romance and to be loved, and having books that say as much is a good thing.