Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Holy Spice-a-Rama! Jolie Vines’s Sin is her spiciest, steamiest romance to date. Continuing the stories of her Dark Island Scots series, Sin picks up literally where the first book of the series, Ruin, left off, rectifying her cliffhanger from that book decidedly. However, if you think the action ends there, it doesn’t. The strength of Vines’s stories in this series, namely Sin, is she hits you with a one-two punch of edge-of-your-seat suspense and action within the guise of hate-to-love romance. There are many twists and turns within Sin, but be prepared. There is much more to come in future books. Some of Vines’s plotlines are remedied, but she ends Sin with a huge problem, which will need resolution in her coming books.
The book isn’t without some critical thoughts, namely relating to her characterizations. Vines clearly builds chemistry between Sin and Lottie, and as a reader, you want them to figure out their relationship. However, there is an inconsistency in Sin’s actions which becomes tiresome throughout the story. I was looking for a more decisive change in personality with Sin, but he remains much the same throughout the story. And there are great qualities baked into his character: loyal and protective being the most important ones. However, there isn’t a softening in him, which made the acceptance of his attraction and eventual love for Lottie complicated. They have a $exual chemistry, but I never felt an emotional one. And Lottie, like Sin, has great character qualities: nurturing, caring, and compassionate, especially with the youngest sibling, Cassie. She’s the requisite mother, which aligns with Sin’s breeding kink. However, for me, there isn’t enough of a journey for her. She falls readily under Sin’s $exual spell, and it becomes annoying for the reader as she bears Sin’s somewhat abusive behavior until they fall into bed together. Many of Vines’s heroines have moxie; it’s what makes them attractive to their suitors. Lottie metes moments of heroism, but by my estimation, for the most part, she’s best known as Sin’s bedroom partner in this newest book.
I think what I love the most, however, about Jolie Vines’s Sin is her transformation as a storyteller. These are more complicated stories, more suspense, more darkness, and she leans into it much as she has done with her other Scots stories. There is something deliciously decadent about the Dark Island Scots, and I am excited for more stories in this world with the hope of an explosive ending to it all where everyone gets the HEA they deserve.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 