ARC BOOK REVIEW: FORBIDDEN BY KARLA SORENSEN (reviewed by Dana)

Well, I needed a bit of time to regroup after reading this. I wanted to love it so badly because I feel really attached to this series. I loved her brother’s book, and then the sisters’ books that followed. And Isabel was the last one standing. It promised to be amazing. And it fell flat for me. It was a really good story at its core, but it missed development. Here’s the why, and I hope I do it justice in my explaining of it. Isabel was always the serious one of the sisters, kind of standoffish, doing her thing while everyone else was finding love one by one. Now it’s finally her turn. Aidan intimidates her in a way that no one ever has. He comes with his own set of mental issues, as well as a little daughter who is directly connected to those issues. So the two form a sort of friendship, but more like an acquaintance type of thing. He’s her boss, so they see each other at work. It takes about 30% of the book for her to feel comfortable to talk normal to him. There’s an instance when she ends up watching his daughter for a few hours. They seem to form a bond of sorts that doesn’t get enough development for where they are at the end of the book, before the epilogue. Isabel and Aiden end up having two sort of intimate moments, there’s no touching or kissing, just heavy breathing maybe. And finally, at the 80% mark, he kisses her. On the cheek. After which they’re hot and heavy, and we get that for another 10% after which there’s an epilogue, and the book is over. I have no idea how they got there. The first 80% felt like it should’ve been half the book, and then build it from there where they actually have a relationship. How did they get to exchange I love you’s from that, I just don’t get. Then, there’s a bit of a hype at the end with a link for a “you don’t wanna miss bonus epilogue” link. And that was one page of nothing basically. It didn’t rock my world, and it was just as rushed as the whole thing was after they finally got together at the end. So I’m bummed, this was not the series wrap up I thought it’d be, and it’s not the slow burn that bothered me. There was just zero development in their relationship. At some point, her sister goes to him and lectures him a little on how to get Isabel or let her go. For one, he had never met this girl before so where is she coming off with that, and for two, there was nothing leading to that!! They did not have a relationship to save!!! Anyways, the other books in this series are great, FYI.

Reviewed by Dana