Review by maggiestraveledbookshelf - Heathen and Honeysuckle

A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf
Heathen and Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

📖 Heathen and Honeysuckle

📚 Book 1 of the Pacific Shores series (interconnected standalones)

✍🏻 Sarah A. Bailey

☑️ Contemporary Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.25

🌶️🌶️🌶️

“𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚. 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚.”

I had really high hopes for this one, but unfortunately it didn’t like land for me.

Overview:

•Angsty Romance

•Second Chance

•Dual Timeline + Dual POV

•Runaway Bride

•Good Girl x Bad Boy

𝗧𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

Outlier Island here. This book had so much potential, but I ended the story feeling more frustrated than anything else.

However - If the tropes listed above intrigue you, please still check out this book because clearly many people absolutely love this one.

🤍 What I Enjoyed:

I loved the premise and set-up of this story! We are immediately submerged into two timelines - the past where Darby and Leo meet in a small coastal California town and the present where Darby is prepping for her wedding to someone else.

Also, hearing from both POVs was a wonderful experience. They are quite clearly obsessed with one another.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙢 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮?”

“𝙄𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮.”

“𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪… 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨?”

“𝙎𝙝𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙥.” 𝙄 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢. “𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡.”

We also got a scene where Leo completely told off her toxic family, and I live for those moments in books!! So satisfying.

😅 What I Didn’t Enjoy:

The characters felt inconsistent and surface level. Each had well-rounded back stories, so it was frustrating when their words and actions contradicted one another. Plus I felt like their individual traumas could’ve produced more depth and stronger arcs.

For example:

——> Grandma’s inconsistencies: “𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙞𝙢.” But later: “𝙄 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙪𝙢𝙗 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣.”

And then her whole end arc? I have a hard time believing she wouldn’t fight harder to help her granddaughters?

——> Leo inconsistencies: “𝙋𝙡𝙪𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚 𝙄’𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬, 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨: 𝙄 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.” But he does SO many things (illegal and/or risky) with Darby that could potentially harm her.

I also predicted one of the main twists pretty early on, and I was extremely disappointed to have it confirmed near the end, as it made me very frustrated with the FMC.

The FMC was a constant damsel in distress, and it drove me bananas. I just wanted to yell: “stand up for yourself!!” Even by the end of the book, Leo was making moves for her.

And the spice… Oof. I have issues with how many of their encounters were portrayed. I’m ALL for sex scenes when there is proper tension and build up, but the present day scenes felt too sudden and unrealistic.

The writing itself had many lovely moments, especially in their metaphor of ghosts and wolves. However, the dialogue felt frequently too flowery and repetitive.

I rarely write reviews like this where they feel more like a rant than anything. But it was so frustrating to read a book that had so much potential and have it fall so flat.

If you want a weirdly lighthearted book with plenty of spice, you could still read and enjoy this book. Clearly there are plenty of people who love this one, and I’m genuinely happy for them!

✨ Read via Kindle Unlimited ✨

Content Warnings

A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf Heathen and Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey

A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf
Heathen and Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey