Execution of Anguish (The Shadows of Wildberry Lane Book 2) by M. Sinclair
Blurb
An underworld empire put at risk for one woman - Dahlia Aldridge.
My love for the men of Wildberry Lane had never been in question. But now that I was aware of the true darkness that had always surrounded me protectively? I craved to know more. I wanted the curtain drawn back fully on just how dangerous they were. More than anything? I found myself wanting to be a part of those shadows - branded by their darkness.
Kingston & Dermot Ross. Stratton Lee. Yates Carter. Lincoln & Sterling Gates.
I was no longer scared of how strongly I felt for them. I just hoped they understood the lengths I would go to protect them. Protect the family that I valued above anything else.
The Brooks had been a problem from the start, but now that they were possibly threatening Wildberry Lane? Causing problems for both my men and my family? That changed everything. An inner strength I never expected was growing inside of me and it was one I refused to shy away from.
I would be strong for my family. For my men. But I knew in order to do that, I would need to kill my own demons.
I would need to execute the anguish that had been devouring me whole.
Wildberry Lane - Home to the extremely wealthy and powerful Southern elite.
*This is the second book in the series and needs to be read in order. To see my review for the first book scroll down to the bottom.
My Review
So the first book I gave 3 stars because I felt like it had room for improvement. My biggest turn off was that the female lead was incredibly naive. Yes, the author makes note of it but I just couldn't believe she was THAT naive. I thought ok maybe she'll have a ton of growth over the trilogy and it'll end with her becoming stronger, smarter, more self assured, independent, get a better understanding at how the world actually works and all the other things you want to see for this woman. I'm here for it and it's the reason I wanted to continue with the second book. Unfortunately, I can't say Dahlia grew at all in this book. She went from the bubble she lived in at Wildberry to the bubble the guys are creating for her in the mafia world in Ireland. I was hoping they would empower her a lot more in this book. You do get one little blip of it at about 20% where Stratton wants to teach her some basic self-defense. I thought awesome! This is exactly what should happen. Don't get too excited though. Psychotic Yates come in and ends it saying she doesn't need to learn because that's their job. Eyeroll with me ladies and gents. Don't get me wrong. I love the romantic notion that the men will always be there and save her, but really? It's not a good idea to teach her self-defense? Does Dahlia push it? Nope, just goes along with it. At 56%, surprise surprise, she gets attacked and isn't able to defend herself. This would of been perfect for the author to have her fight off the bad guy and use the self-defense Stratton taught her if Yates didn't interrupt. Missed opportunity.
I think my problem is the fact that Dahlia is someone I don't aspire to be and I don't connect with her at all. I love strong female leads and she's just not it. She's not a great representation of a woman in 2021. What's the purpose of making this character so naive? To have her grow and heal, or to keep her the same at the end? It's stated that the book is a trilogy but I just don't see it all coming together in the next book. There's not only Dahlia's story of anxiety and her eating disorder (which I felt wasn't portrayed accurately) but there's also the gang story, the mafia story, and the people bullying Dahlia story. This book was over the span of only 3 days and nothing progressed. There were 2 sleeps and like 5 naps that happened. Let's hope they are well rested to deal with the last book.
Rating: 1 Star
Recommend: No
Books in the Series
