Rating: 3.5🌈
I have loved this series to date. Ariana Nash has come up with some truly imaginative magical elements for her characters and aspects with which to frame out this series.
Some, especially in that last story have been breathtaking in the scope and manner in which the drama unfolded, with respect to Montgomery and the events within Wordsworth. Over to top outstanding.
But in and around the narrative pyrotechnics and Dom’s growing relationship with Alexander Kempthorne, there was a few things starting to pick at me.
Not quite in the TSTL (to stupid to live) or TSTC (to stupid to communicate) categories , but in the TSTSTBGIFOY grouping. That’s the To Stupid To See The Bad Guy In Front Of You category!
It makes a giant appearance here in Truth or Dare (Shadows of London #4) by Ariana Nash. That and other elements just make this book a narrative stumbling block in what was a nicely crafted series.
I honestly lose my patience here. Both with the author and characters over this. Especially when it’s a repeated offense. And not just with one character. It’s with one major character who , over and over, betrays EVERYONE! And then another person arrives. Does some very shady things. But let’s have our men trust them again. And again. And yea, again. You get my point. There’s no end to it. A toddler would say no to these people.
The author would have the reader and our beloved characters go with the flow , emotionally , with everything at stake ,with these iffy people.
Hmmm. It’s so counterintuitive. Alexander Kempthorne is a brilliant man, mistrustful of most. Where is that person here? Dom’s ex military and the son of the King of Thieves. Intuition alone would have had this playing out totally different except that , their actions seemed needed to fit in with a plot counter to the constructed personalities we come to know so far in the previous books.
Only at the very end did a semblance of the canny Alexander reappear.
This story had some nice elements but they were overshadowed by far too many exasperating or plain odd aspects to this story.
There’s one last story. I certainly need to know how it all ends. I mean, certainly no one will trust that character again. I mean really. That’s not even a possibility, right?
Guess we will find out later this year.
Shadows of London Series reading order:
🔹Twisted Pretty Things #1
🔹Tide of Tricks #2
🔹Trial by Fire #3
🔹Truth or Dare #4
🔹Without a Trace #5- finale/later 2022
https://www.goodreads.com › showTruth or Dare (Shadows of London, #4) by Ariana Nash – Goodreads
Synopsis:
America. The land of the free. Unless you’re a latent.
Kage is missing. Alexander Kempthorne would prefer he stay that way. Life at the new-look Kempthorne & Co agency is difficult enough without adding a missing American to the mix. But John “Dom” Domenici won’t abandon someone who was once their friend, even if Kage is “technically” an enemy.
But as the team investigate Kage’s disappearance, a traumatic, hidden past comes to light. And a missing person case soon turns into a fight for survival for Dom and Kempthorne, in a land not-so-free.
***
Breathless action, suspenseful mystery, and steamy romance combine in the fast-paced gay adventure series from the author acclaimed for their enemies-to-lovers, epic twists, and morally conflicted characters.
Please note the Shadows of London series is predominantly set in London with British characters. Although the series has been edited in US English for the US market, to include US spelling and grammar, many English slang words and spelling remain as part of the character of the work.
Content warning: reference to past abuse.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 