✨Im Literary Anxious✨

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲⌚: 2 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿:  Susie Tate ✍🏻𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 374 📖
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿(𝘀): Shane East, Zara-Hampton Brown 🗣️𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: 10 Hr, 30 Min 🎧

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠.” 
“𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠.”

Buckle up, because another Susie Tate–level grovel is coming tomorrow.

I loved Rafe — self-important, overbearing, occasionally insufferable Rafe. (Yes, I called him a twat waffle more than once. Don’t worry.) There’s just something about an ultra-alpha MMC and a shy heroine in need of rescuing that absolutely gets me. Feminism who art thou?

“𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

Despite being an overbearing jerk at times, Rafe was incredibly sweet with Clara — minus, of course, the catastrophic mistake. Susie Tate always knows how to bring her MMCs down a peg though, and in this case? Enter Mrs. Clayton.

Mrs. Clayton is SAVAGE and I adored her for it. Just a sampling:

🔥 “𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘤 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦.”

 🔥 “𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰… 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭… 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

 🔥 “𝘐’𝘮 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺…”

Clara is shy, introverted, and understandably cautious after living in survival mode her entire life. But underneath that softness is serious steel — and Rafe definitely noticed.

“𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣,”
Clara said, cutting me off and shocking the absolute life out of me.
“𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?”  Frank sneered.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”

“𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣.”

Sis did not stutter.

Did I give her a standing ovation? Absolutely.

All in all, this was another emotionally satisfying ride from Susie Tate. If you love a self-important hero getting properly humbled, a shy heroine with hidden steel, and a grovel that actually feels earned — this one is for you.

I both read and listened, and Shane East voicing Rafe? There is genuinely nothing that man could narrate that I wouldn’t swoon over. He brought every ounce of arrogance, regret, and devotion to life.

The book releases Tuesday, so consider this your friendly nudge: add it to your TBR, clear your schedule, and prepare yourself accordingly.