Hi Everyone,

Hope you’re all well and rested after a four day weekend (if you’re in the UK). Back to reality today and thankfully, I have a relatively easy work week planned so that should ease me back into it nicely. Another positive for me; more reading time.

Book 📖

Thank you to @tandemcollectiveuk and @michaeljbooks for this hardback copy of So Close by @sylvia_day and for having me on a great readalong. So Close was published on 28th March, 2023 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Widower Kane Black remains ruinously married to his late wife, Lily. Grief has hollowed him … until he sees a woman with his wife’s inimitable beauty on Manhattan’s streets. He whisks her up to his towering penthouse, protectively guarded, nestling her in dark opulence where Lily’s memory is a possessive, beguiling force.

Aliyah, Kane’s mother, deals in science. There are too many questions, too few answers, and too much at stake. “Lily” has dangerous control over Kane and there can be only one queen on this throne.

Amy, Kane’s sister-in-law, has been bloodied by deceit and betrayal, and she’s devolving into murderous rage. She’s paid too high a price and now intends to claim what she’s owed.

Three women, linked by buried secrets, circle the man who unquestioningly accepts the return of his beloved long-dead wife. Kane is happier than he’s ever been, and he’ll do anything to stay that way.

General Thoughts 🤔

I was so excited to be on this readalong as I was anticipating this to be a juicy read and it did not disappoint. Don’t get me wrong, I spent a good amount of time asking myself what on earth was going on. Is this Lily? Is it not? If it isn’t, then who on earth is it and how can she trick everyone? I didn’t end up getting answers to all of my questions, but I was definitely left wanting more from this wild family.

Characters 👫👭👬

I can honestly say that out of all of the characters in this book, I only liked one. In a positive way though. I enjoyed disliking the others; flaws and all. Starting with Kane. I found him to be cold and guarded when I really wanted to know what was going on his head. Lily was a complete enigma to me. I didn’t know who she was and I still don’t. Out of all of them though, I had the most empathy for her. Amy was a damaged brat but a damaged brat that I kind of wanted to do well in the end. Aliyah was a controlling, narcissistic she-devil and I couldn’t think of anything worse than having her for a mother. Finally Witte. The only character I liked. He was sweet and polite and caring. However I am certain that there is much more to Witte that we didn’t get to learn about in this book.

Writing Style ✍️

This isn’t the first Sylvia Day book that I’ve read. I was certain that I’d read the Crossfire series (that everyone in the world has surely heard of), however according to Goodreads, I’ve only read the second book. That can’t be right. However it was ten years ago so I can’t remember what I did and didn’t read. By the by. I had an idea what I was getting into with this author. I expected dark, sexy and smouldering and it’s what I got. It’s actually impressive how Sylvia Day is able to make a sex scene span an entire chapter, and not a short one.

The plot line for this book was engaging and definitely had me firing through chapters trying to get answers. Of course I enjoyed the multiple POVs as I always do, however I did want to read from Kane’s perspective. I liked the way that this book set up what is to come from the following books in the Blacklist series and I’m hoping that I get to get inside of Kane’s mind then.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

As I understand it, readers have been waiting for what feels like a lifetime for this author to return with new books and from what I’ve seen so far, people are loving this first instalment in the Blacklist series. I really enjoyed So Close and it was a welcomed bit of escapism for me. I’d usually be frustrated finishing a book with nearly as many questions as when I had started, but I’m not angry about it with this one. The next book in this series is due out in October so there really isn’t that long to wait to meet Kane and his whacko family again. Dark, sexy and thrilling; this book was entertaining and I’m excited to read more.

😍😍😍😐😐