Review: Carnal Obsession: His Heart's Prisoner

Carnal Obsession: His Heart's Prisoner by Reily Garrett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this book. This book is everything the genre should be. It was amazing in so many ways, so much so that I fear I’ll miss half of the things rolling around in my head as I write up a review.

I’ll start by saying I have never before read a book by the author. Carnal Obsession: His Heart’s Prisoner is part of the Carnal series, being book number four, but it works just fine as a standalone novel. Carnal Beginnings, Carnal Innocence, and Carnal Whispers are now on my want to read list, but they are not necessary to understand this story. I admit that they will aid in the understanding of characters seen in this book, as the stories are linked through the characters, but it’s not the end of the world if – like me – you have not read the prior books. I could very well retract that statement at a later date, once I have read the prior books, but at the moment I’m going to stand by my statement of how you do not need to read the prior books.

At first I was somewhat taken aback by this book. Quite often I find these romantic suspense books mixed with erotica can be rather… well, poorly written. If not poorly written, then there is no real feel of individual style. I’m not saying I dislike the genre – I love it, in fact – however I very rarely stumble upon a voice that really stands out. For me, the story telling really grabbed me from the start. I love prose that stand out, writing styles that are clearly individual, and such is the case here. The writing style really pulled me in, standing out beyond what I’m accustomed to reading. I mean no offence to other writers in the genre – I will always enjoy the genre, no matter what – but this book really did stand out in terms of writing style. At no point did the book feel like a chore, at no point was I groaning at analogies that erred towards being cringe worthy.

In addition to the writing being wonderful, the story was brilliant. It pulled me in from the very start, leaving me unable to put it down. It was one of those situations where I decided to forego sleep, spending the night up reading the book. This is why you do not start books between two and three in the morning: you’re signing up to sacrifice your sleep, especially when a book is as addictive as this one. From the very start the action pulls you in, refusing to let up as events slowly unfold before your eyes. You’re constantly questioning people and motives, unsure of what is the truth of the situation. You’ll come up with ideas but things are murky throughout, ensuring you’re never quite sure about who can and cannot be trusted.

Then there’s the characters. Oh boy did I love them. The interaction between the two main characters was wonderful – ensuring you were hooked to that part of the storyline as well. Truthfully, I think I was more addicted to seeing how their interactions would pan out than I was in seeing the suspense aspect come together – and I can tell you that the latter certainly had a tight grip on me. Honestly, it’s been so long since I found myself so engaged in characters. I shipped them hard; I can tell you that for a fact. The tension and build-up was wonderful, every moment leaving me wanting more.

It wasn’t simply the main characters I fell in love with, however. I adored all the brothers, hence why I’m so eager to get my hands on the prior books. The interaction between the brothers is so fun to watch, the banter being great fun to read. I cannot wait to get my hands on the prior books to see more of this kind of interaction, as my biggest disappointment from the book was that there was a surprisingly small amount of this banter. When it happened it was wonderful, but I constantly found myself wanting more of it.

The only other complaint I have, which is small, is regarding the action scenes. I felt as though the events at the end of the book were over much too quickly. It was a wonderful ending, I really enjoyed the way things played out, but I wanted to read more of it. It’s only a small thing, but it stopped me from giving this book a full five star rating (this is partly because I’m exceptionally harsh when it comes to giving out five stars and so very rarely do so) but it is a very strong four-point-five read.

Overall, as you can see, I adored this book. I would like to say the biggest thank you to the author for allowing me to advance read this one. It was brilliant, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the other Carnal books!

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