2 out of 4 stars
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Heartaches 3 is a romance book written by H. M. Irwing that follows the protagonist Anna as she tries breaking loose from the web of past hurts spun by several of the Preston men. She seeks out revenge against the family that has done her so much wrong by creating her own plan to do her own damage. With the help of Suzi and Rafe, Anna plots to ruin the wedding of Peter Preston before it can happen, hopefully dealing a final blow by raising jealousy and thoughts of infidelity through kinky means and ultimately allowing them all to move forward with their lives.
Reading this as a standalone book leaves much to be desired with the recap of past events being vague; however, earlier events are recalled quite often, just not in any great detail. While reading I was struck by the choppy sentences, awkward phrasing, and how the language otherwise used can be vague and hard to follow, all of which happens often, leaving me more often than not confused trying to decipher what the author is trying to get across.
This is not a feminist work by any stretch of the imagination, the protagonist’s past rape is used as a plot device and then is commented on that she was asking for it, the man who loves her sees her as a reward to be won, and she is often only seen as beautiful after she loses weight. There is a moment of sexual liberation for one of the characters as she assumes the role of dominatrix, but any empowerment gained is never gone into, treated more like a passing comment.
I give this book two out of four stars because of how frequent the choice of words and phrasing becomes awkward, often distracting enough to take the reader out of the experience. The plot to shame the groom-to-be via BDSM was only concretely made known moments before it began its implementation, so the lack of buildup becomes jarring at best. Additionally, the reason for the manipulation isn’t clearly stated until after the fact.
I took off another star for the uneven pacing found throughout the book. Some scenes are well paced, but then the author will tell it again from a different character’s perspective directly after the first telling. When the author tries to set the mood, she will describe a seemingly random aspect and indulge in its description. Rather than setting the correct tone, the author misses the mark and leaves the reader with feelings of confusion.
******
Heartaches 3
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