Rating: 3⭐️
The Goblin in the Sink (Groom and Doom Book 2) by Hailey Edwards is a good example of how a series can lose their initial momentum with the second book and all plot potential.
That seems to be a frequent element with some of Edwards writing in her various series. She can strike hot and the entire series is excellent all the way through or the first is promising but falters as it progresses.
Here it’s the later. The first novel had so many interesting moments and potentially intriguing characters that I wondered how Edwards’ next book was going to move the various plots and mysteries forward.
Then the 2nd book releases and the choices made for the characters and plot just end up frustrating and unlikely thought out from multiple standpoints.
Let’s have dragons but deny them the very characteristics and abilities that make them so powerful and memorable so that the villains can act without fear of retaliation for the majority of the story. They might as well be Guinea pigs.
Until boom, suddenly, dragons act sorta like dragons. Or one does. Kinda.
However, it’s turning the main character of Ana Sartori into a person who suddenly puts her own needs above the safety of others, even in the face of overwhelming danger and extreme stupidity. Where it’s clear to everyone it’s a highly threatening trap to do certain things, ones where she’s going to knowingly bring friends into a situation where they might not even survive, but she says , yep let’s go. SMH.
It’s the equivalent of that commercial where there’s choice to go for a garage with swinging horror equipment or a running car and the teenagers choose the garage. It’s like that. Over and over.
Oh no, do you think it’s a trap, trick. I just led my friend who’s now being tortured. Oh no. Wait I knew that was coming.
It’s a constant SMH from a main character who starts coming off as incredibly self absorbed and TSTL.
So it’s barely a 3. And not going forward.
I enjoyed Edwards last series. And I’ll check out the others. But this is a pass.
Groom & Doom (3 book series)
The Vampire in the Potting Shed #1
The Goblin in the Sink #2
The Mermaid in the Shot Glass #3
Buy link
The Goblin in the Sink Drain (Groom & Doom Book 2)
Blurb
Everything Ana Sartori knows about herself, and her father, is a lie. Or so the Walsh clan would have her believe. Their claims are convincing, the details too vivid to dismiss outright, but she can’t imagine her father as the villain of her story.
Carmichael Sartori is a lot of things. Ruthless. Merciless. Pitiless. But alphas aren’t known for being pushovers. Ana knows pack law is brutal for a reason, and her father enforces the rules with tooth and claw to protect his people. Including her.
But the more time she spends with the Walsh clan, the wider her eyes open to the possibilities of what an alpha could be, what a pack should be, and it makes her wonder if the Walshes are right about other things. The only way for Ana to be certain is to face her father. She’ll have to throw herself to the wolves and hope she makes it out alive with her answers.
Black Dog Books, LLC.
Publication date
October 31, 2025
Language
English
Print length
150 pages
Book 2 of 3
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 