A review by kjharrowick
Carnally Ever After by Jackie Barbosa

2.0

Why I picked up this book:
All right, so I picked this book up after seeing a twitter post about a review that led the author/publisher to set the price as free. I'd just read a dark fantasy and needed a bit of a palate cleanser a la dirty romance.

What I liked:
The author's writing and voice is stellar.

Areas needing a touch of refinement:
This should be a dirty romance, but right off the bat there's nothing that smacks of romance or love, only lust. Both the hero/heroine are already engaged to other people, and their first intimate encounter reads as a one-night stand for nothing but sex. I would have loved to see a more organic progression of intimacy from a-to-z.

I didn't really connect with the story. It was vague at best around the affair. One thing that bummed me out was a setup in chapter 4 that really opened a portal for fun romantic hijinks between the affair couple and their betrothed partners, but it never played out.

Overall:
If you're looking for a quick read that's more dirty sex in an affair-like setting, definitely pick this up. I may check out other tales by the author as I do like her writing voice, but this story had me suspending too much disbelief for the hero/heroine love story to feel authentic.