War of Hearts by Karen Lynn is the first novel in the Hearts in Torment series, dubbed a dark romantic suspense. I read/listen to this novel as I was in the mood for something different. I jumped into this one expecting a dark, twisted and suspenseful read.
Dark and suspenseful it was not, but it sure claim the title of being twisted. Here we have two men, (Logan and Jake) in love with the same woman, (Kristen), but was it really love or was it an obsession?
It took some time for me to get into the story. I put down the book for a while before I finally got the courage to trudge through the end. I have mixed feelings about this story. It was not until the 90% mark that things became interesting. Prior to this there was so much back and forth that, my head spun, but for some strange reason I had to know how it would unfold. I saw the disaster a mile away, but could not look away.
To be honest, the characters got on my nerves. Several times, I wished I could knock some sense into them. I found it difficult to drum up any form of sympathy for Kristen. She knows Logan is not good for her. After twelve years of marriage, she has finally had enough or so she believes. She keeps going back to Logan despite being in a relationship Jake. It is clear she has no clue what she wants. Indecisive, clueless and habitual liar are the words to describe her.
Logan is the ultimate manipulator. He knows which of Kristen’s strings to pull to get what he wants. A narcissistic sociopath by nature
Jake is opposite of Kristen and Logan. Yes, he had issues from his past, but he never allowed to ruin his dreams. He desperately loved Kristen, to where he overlooked her deceitfulness, which was not healthy has it led to him have jealous rages. He struggled with insecurities, which contributed to his acceptance of Kristen’s treatment towards him.
Their behaviour lacked the maturity one would expect from an adult.
Despite my issues with the characters, I enjoyed the author’s writing style. Her attention to details and her descriptions made each scene come alive.
The story did not end in the manner I expected. I suspected that tragedy would strike, and it did, but not how I expected. The ending left me with lots of questions, which my curious mind need to know the answers to. The biggest question I have concerns the growth of the characters. Will they act like the adults they are?
I found the story to be quite long. I believe there were many unnecessary details, which contributed the slow pacing of the story.
Narration
Claire Riley did an okay job with the narration; however, she did mispronounce a few words… I borrowed the ebook through KU and I recognized that that a few paragraphs were left out of the narration. She did an ok job with the character s’ voices. There were moments where I believed; she went a bit overboard with the display of emotions.
Conclusion/Recommendation
In the end not a bad listen, but had the potential to be much better.
Nadene's addiction to reading began at an early age, when a family friend gifted her a copy of Wuthering Heights. From that moment she was never without a book. She will read anything as long as the material is compelling enough to hold her attention. She gained many experiences through the pages of the books she had the opportunity to read. She created this blog to share her love of books with like-minded individuals, hoping that in sharing reviews of the books read, visitors to the blog will discover their next addictive read. When not reading, Nadene enjoys cooking, listening to music, and watching television.
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This story would drive me crazy with the back and forth and wish washiness of the female lead. It’s always hard to trudge through a story when the characters are driving you crazy. I’m glad things eventually got interesting. Great Review Nadene!
Lindy@ A Bookish Escape
It seems that so many domestic thrillers have mostly unlikeable characters and unhealthy issues driving the people. Sounds like it had other issues with being slow and then left you wondering.
I doubt I would care for this book but I find myself doing the same thing when I start a book. I have to finish it just to see how it ends.
Sadly, I know a few guys like Logan in real life who have married my friends, so I don’t think I’ll be reading about him anytime soon.(lol) With my attention span these days, it would be hard for me to get into if it didn’t grab me right away. Another great review! Hugs…RO
I don’t like to have questions at the end of the book…
Me neither.:)
Missing paragraphs in the narration? I know sometimes a story is tweaked for audio, but usually not that much content. It is more a change of wording to flow better. It can be hard when characters act immature.
Interesting. Yeah there were few missing, but I don’t think it would have been noticeable if you did not read the ebook. My biggest issue was the mispronunciations.
great review and considering the problems with both the story and narration a generous 3 i think.
Hard to love something if the characters are lovable ro likable. Wonderful honest review for this!
Thanks. Kindlemom. I agree, not connecting with the characters can break the story.