Reading Under the Willow Tree

I really wanted this book to be amazing.  I read the short prequel just before Christmas and I was supper impressed with it so I had high hopes for Caged Warrior.  I find the whole of this series amazing; it is so fresh and original.  I like that this series is dark and dangerous, these are no sweet romances they are dirty, violent and brutal. 

The first half of this book was just what I thought it would be and I was really impressed with it.  I liked the horribleness, the roughness.  I loved the characters Audrey is strong and heroic; she has been through so much and refuses to wallow in self-pity.  Leto is dark and dangerous, he is nor a ‘hero’ he does and has done bad things and he is not gentle or sweet, but he is honourable and there are a few moments where his protective nature came out and he was mesmerizing.  The chemistry between them was building up into something great and I thought that this book was getting better and better…but then, something went wrong.

The storyline takes a turn and forces Audrey’s character to change and from there this book faltered.  It is hard to be harsh about this book because I was so determined to love it but the second half of this book was a let-down.  The chemistry and sexual tension that had been lovingly and expertly built over the first half was just wasted and the flow of the novel was lost.  Audrey’s character change doesn’t last long but the book never really recovered and I was left wishing that the whole second half wasn’t really this book.

Despite this I am still backing this series; there is a lot to admire here, a lot of originality.  This is the author’s debut novel and so there is still room to grow and improve.  I have high hopes for the rest of the series, because the first half of this proved that there is a lot of potential and a lot of talent to be found here.

(ARC provided by simon and schuster in exchange for an honest review)