Ache 🍀

Author: Rosie Sloane
Genres: Mafia, Contemporary
Published: June 15, 2024
Pages: 63
Format read: Epub

Triggers: Trafficking, Violence, Spanking, BDSM

Quick Thoughts: I love this series to bits! Rosie's writing and this story just does it for me.

This book was an ARC and given to me for free.
All reviews are entirely honest and my own opinion.

Rating: 🖤🖤🖤🖤
Characters: 🖤🖤🖤
Plot: 🖤🖤🖤🖤
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Ache is the second instalment of the Valentine series. I enjoyed the first book so much I immediately delved into the second book. And I definitely was not disappointed! This was, once again, such a fun read! I just love the way that Rosie Sloan writes, her style simply does it for me.

I am not going to lie, I fell so hard for this series! There just is something about it that makes it such a fun read! The books are also short enough to read in a single sitting, which is absolutely perfect for me. Especially if I just finished a long series with books around 300-500 pages. This series is the perfect in between to have a few evenings of down time with some easy reads.

And the spice in these books? Few-ew! I am all here for it! It's hot, it's steamy and it is a lot! What I especially liked about the spicy scenes was the fact that they weren't too long, without being too short either. There was just enough detail to paint a vivid image, without being repetitive.

That being said, Ache -and the Valentine series as a whole- definitely is a book with which you have to mind the trigger warnings. Please read them carefully before you pick up this series. While I have very little triggers (that is to say, I haven't found anything triggering yet), I can 100% imagine that some people will have some issues with the darker themes that this series delves in.

Talking about those darker themes, this book dives further into the world of trafficking. I really liked that it simply takes one subject and builds it plot around that. It makes for a very clear storyline.

Next to the obviously numerous spicy scenes, there also is an emotional rawness to this book. The way that Treasa and Valentine develop is one of my favourite things. You get to know more and more about their history together, being fed little pieces of information at a time. I can't wait to piece it all together and have a full background with these two! Definitely one of my main reasons to keep reading: I am just way too curious about it!

The books definitely benefit from being Novella's, as it makes for a quick read. While I like my books just a little longer (at least 100 pages), it isn't as bothersome because there already are plenty of books in this series! I simply didn't want the book to end and jumped right into the third instalment after finishing the last page.

While I love the characters and the story to bits, I had the same problem with this book as I had with the last one; Some of the scenes felt a little disjointed. Rosie tends to jump from one scene to another, and there just is a bit of transition missing. A car ride, a little conversation, things like that. One moment you're in a bedroom and the other moment you are in a store.

Good bits:
- More history between the main characters
- A very clear storyline
- Emotional rawness
- I just love Rosie's writing style. It's quick paced and simple.
- Lots of spicy scenes
- It's a series! Yay, more books!

Bad bits:
- A little disjointed
- Short! Would love just a few more chapters

Ache was a very enjoyable second book of this series and I just love it to bits. Rosie's writing simply does it for me, and makes me completely addicted to these books. If you're a fan of quick, short reads with a fast pace writing style, I would definitely try this series out. 

It was great continuation of the storyline…beware of the triggers!

Very spicy and descriptive. A stop you in your tracks read. I couldn't put it down.

I’m loving the Valentine series! The heat, the tension and of course the anticipation of how this will all end. This is a series worth reading if you love mafia vibes with spice!

I didn't want this book to end. I love the conflicting emotions that both Cupid and Teresa were feeling about the new arrangement. I can't wait to see what happens next in her sub-training. Will it bring them closer together or make them hate each other by the time every ends?