Overall Grade: B- / C+
Tropes: age gap; dark romance; small town vibes; found family; circus romance
Skye Warren’s White Lies is the second book of her newest Smoke and Mirrors trilogy. It features the commanding Logan and the beguiling Sienna embroiled in test after test of their love. White Lies handles the cliffhanger left at the end of book 1 of the series, Red Flags, but it inevitably leaves us on another one at the end of this story.
I want to be frank. I struggled with White Lies. I love Skye Warren’s brand of dark romance, and I’ve read most, if not all, of her book list. I’ve been consumed with her Tanglewood world romances in the past, and I will never forget the impact of those stories on my sense of dark romance. I share this because I will continue to read her even though White Lies is one of the most inconsistent stories I’ve read from her. It felt cobbled together, and there were transitions between certain chapters that slowed her narrative pacing. Several chapters of White Lies were repetitive: Logan asking for forgiveness and Sienna vacillating between continuing to distrust him or granting it. Warren tethers Logan and Sienna together with $ex, and it’s difficult to understand and accept Logan’s undying love for her. In a word, White Lies felt rushed.
Here’s the thing: I want to love this trilogy (it’s my first one set in the realm of a circus, and that intrigues me), but thus far, I’ve been underwhelmed by it. I will continue to read Skye Warren because I know she’ll pull it all together in Black Sheep. I was simply disappointed with White Lies. Sienna and Logan’s story deserves better.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 