Ada Maria Soto

Overall, a really great book, with a lot of great kinks, some lovely relationships, some great humor (there's a joke near the end that made me laugh so hard), and just... it's very good. I love both protagonists. I love all the side characters. I loved the softness of it, alongside the intensity. The way it dealt with touch starvation and trauma. It was really nice.

Part of it is also just... not necessarily for me. One of the protagonists is in SWAT, and there's a scene late in the book that's too similar to a regular concern I faced at a former (and perhaps future) workplace. It takes up a good chunk of the ending, and I honestly read it as fast as I could because I was just really uncomfortable with it. I think the author deserves kudos for accuracy on that front. The entire book's handling of that character is quite enjoyable. Of course there are a few very tired lawyer stereotypes. Not the worst ones, but well...

Also I think... this could use more commas. There were places where sentences needed pauses, and they kept not being there, and it felt like a lot of this was stream of consciousness when it clearly wasn't meant to be. The pacing in this is so good that the continuous lack of necessary commas was kind of distracting.

This gets five stars because the writing is just that good all around, with really great characters, and I honestly think someone without my hang-ups would love it just fine. Parts of the ending are particularly poignant, and the way characters handle the complicated relationships herein isn't something I've encountered elsewhere.… (mere)