Review: Dark Devotions by Nichole Greene

Dark Devotions by Nichole Greene

Series: Dark Devotions #1

Publication date: April 12th, 2022

Pages: 340

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

*This special edition includes bonus scenes, the full Forever Devoted extended epilogue, and a brand new cover.*

Once upon a time they were my best friends, my family, my soulmates. But this is no fairy tale and I have nothing left to lose.

Beaten, bruised, scarred, emotionally traumatized. Olivia finally found a way to escape her sadistic husband. Now broken and penniless, with nowhere else to turn, she seeks out the four men who always protected her when they were younger. But can they come together and help her heal from the damage wrought? She loved them all once, will she again after being held by the devil's embrace?

Sawyer, Nolan, Lake, and Grant share more wealth and power between them than the majority of the civilized world. But when an old friend comes back into their lives, they find themselves sharing more than a substantial plan full of revenge for the man that tried to break her. Each with their own set of skills but none able to resist the woman that needs them most. Vowing to protect her, the lines are blurred into murky shades of gray as secrets unfold and five hearts are on the line.

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Review:

When Olivia escaped her abusive husband one night when the butler decided he had seen enough of her pain, she didn't have a clue where she could go. Her parents were dead and the only family she had was all abroad and were of no help. The only people left are the four men she abandoned when she married Tripp. They could easily dismiss her and she would be left on her own with the limited money she was given when she escaped. Luckily, the men are just as good as she remembered them if at least where she was concerned. But once she enters their lives, will she be in more danger than she was with her husband? The boys she once knew as a kid are now men with dark secrets and a finger on the pulse of the underworld. Olivia is willing to risk it all, even her own heart.

I was locked in with what I wanted to rate this book when I first started putting together my review post. But as I was doing so I was thinking back on it. I felt like there were more things I was finding that I didn't like about the book than I did like. I didn't struggle too hard through the book so I couldn't feel good about giving it a one star review, but the list of faults was extensive.

First, the book badly needs an editor. There are spelling and sentence structure issues that really frustrated me. It wasn't like they just did it a few times, it was a lot and it was tot he point where I was starting to not understand what the author was trying to say. It almost read like the author's first language isn't English. I am not sure if that is true or not, but that is kind of how choppy it was at some points. It was especially noticeable in the epilogue. 

Next, I struggled with the story starting where it did. It provided flashbacks to their relationships together once or twice but if they were going to do that the author should have done it a lot more frequently so that the reader could feel that connection between Olivia and her guys. Really, their past was non-existent for us so we had to go off their current relationship they started to form. Which wasn't as deep as they kept making it seem. It felt more like insta-love which is kind of cheesy to me. It was a missed opportunity to create a deep appreciation for the characters if only the flashback feature was utilized better.

Finally, I felt like the epilogue was completely unnecessary. I understand wanting to show that the characters had their happily ever after but it really felt like it was just a way to keep a story going that was already wrapped up tightly with a big red bow. The epilogue was supposed to show Olivia needing one more thing to feel fulfilled within their relationship but the thing she needed was so trivial. It was an unfortunate attempt to inject a bit of drama but it was just kind of silly. 

I think the bare bones of the story was good. I think with some reworking and tweaking maybe the story could be a really enjoyable read but as it stands in this moment, it was not as good as I would have liked it to be.