XOXpert ARC Review and Giveaway: A Pound of Flesh by Sophie Jackson
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Orange Is the New Black meets Jennifer Probst’s New York Times bestselling Marriage to a Billionaire trilogy, featuring a strong-minded prison tutor who discovers that her sexy bad-boy student is far more than he appears to be.
Haunted by nightmares of her father’s street murder fifteen years ago, Kat Lane decides to face her fears and uphold his legacy of helping others by teaching inmates at a New York prison. There she meets arrogant Wesley Carter, who’s as handsome as he is dangerous, as mysterious as he is quick-witted, and with a reputation that ensures people will keep their distance.
As teacher and student, Kat and Carter are forced to leave their animosities at the door and learn that one should never judge a book by its cover. As Carter’s barriers begin to crumble, Kat realizes there’s much more to her angry student than she thought, leaving them to face a new, perilous obstacle: their undeniable attraction to one another.
When Carter is released and Kat continues to tutor him on the outside, the obstacles mount. Can they fight the odds to make their relationship work? Will Kat’s family and friends ever accept her being with someone of his background? And will Kat’s discovery of Carter’s role on the night her father died force them apart forever...or unite them?
The student/teacher trope is not normally my thing; however, the moment I read the synopsis for Pound of Flesh, I was intrigued and wicked excited to get my hands on something different. I’d say I sat 50/50 on the uniqueness of this book. Some parts were definitely uncommon and other parts not so much. I liked Pound of Flesh, but I wasn’t as in love with it as I hoped to be.
The thing is I enjoyed the first half of the book much better than the last half. Mainly due to the spark Kat and Carter threw off during their altercations. I really loved their spitfire personalities in those scenes. Once Cater leaves the prison and Kat starts to tutor him outside of that atmosphere, I felt as though both characters could be lackluster and cheesy at times.
While I thought after prison Carter was a pure sweetheart, I actually missed the cocky Carter. That Carter set my heart racing. The “new” Carter just left me with a comfy feeling, no longer on the edge of my seat waiting to experience more of his intensity. Which is a shame since I totally dig me a good bad boy and Wes Carter had all the right ingredients to make an amazing bad boy gone good, while still holding on to the edginess of his allure.
I liked Kat and often felt bad for her with the crap she had to take from her mother and best friend. They were complete and utter bitches!! Oh my gosh, I could not take any more of their nastiness and judgments thrown Carter’s way. I could understand it at the beginning while Carter was still in prison, but this lasted the entire book and was quite annoying to me. I applauded Kat for not taking their damn crap and putting them both in their place. If it had been me, I would have been dishing out some major smack down.
Here is where my primary issues came in, the author had some great plot ideas when it came to Wes and Kat; however, those ideas never really went anywhere, falling rather flat in execution. I was disappointed with the forbidden/illicit aspect to their relationship and how huge the repercussions would be if they were caught. Jackson totally let this slip to the wayside. By letting this tad bit dangle in the wind, I felt as though it took away from the complete taboo intention. In addition, the story line between Carter and his cousin Austin was also left dangling in the wind. The author could have taken this plot line and run so many amazing places with it, yet it too fell flat in execution. With as much as Austin was an ass, it was surprising to see this man just lay down with his tail between his legs. Totally didn’t fit the personality or character villain Jackson was going for.
Overall, Pound of Flesh was a decently written book that held great potential for becoming something special. Unfortunately, that potential went unrealized due to plot lines that were never followed through.
"I have received a complimentary copy of Pound of Flesh as a member of the XOXperts, XOXO After Dark’s official street team, in exchange for an honest review.”
Upcoming:
Love and Always (#1.5)
Continues Carter and Kat's story
August 3, 2015
An Ounce of Hope (#2)
Max and Grace's story
January 5, 2016
Fate and Forever (#2.5)
Continues Carter and Kat's story
April 18, 2016
Sophie Jackson writes fanfiction under the online handle Jaxon22. She is the author of the award-winning A Pound of Flesh series, including the e-novellas Love and Always and Fate and Forever. Follow her on Twitter: @SophieJax
(2) Paperback Copies of A Pound of Flesh by Sophie Jackson, provided by the blog
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