Book Review: Smite by Eden Rose

About the Author

Hello! My name is Eden Rose and its a pleasure to meet you. I have been writing for a long time and once I picked a topic, I couldn't stop writing. My books are very special to me because in some aspect I have had experience in the subject matter one way or another. I love reading romance but I like the main male lead to be a real bad boy, not one who thinks they are bad.

I live in Michigan with my husband and three fur babies! I can be found taking my dog for walks all over town or in a quiet corner reading. I have two degrees in history and criminal justice from a small private college in Michigan where I also joined a sorority.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know me and I would be happy to answer any questions or filter in suggestions.

Smite (Lockdown Series Book 2)

****You asked for it! Be careful for what you wish for, because you just might get it! Smite is no-hold's-bar! This book takes off where we left off in Cuffed.

GRANT*

They just took her. They just took her from me and now I can't find her anywhere. Who just takes a federal agent off of the face of the earth and stash them some place? The FBI. What's worse than that? Howard's missing too. I knew that he couldn't wait for me to mess up so he could swoop in and take my girl. Some partner he was.

I've got Kayla living with me now. She's due to have my baby in a few months and I'm trying to focus on her. It's just not working out the way that it should. I keep thinking about Chloe and I can't stop her.

When I find out where Chloe is and that she's pregnant with my babies? All hell is about to break lose.

HOWARD*

I've finally got Chloe right where I want her and that's in my arms. Yeah, her being pregnant with Grant's babies isn't ideal, but I'm not ready to give her up. Not ever. When Grant comes showing up right after I get Chloe to give me a chance, I begin to worry. It's too soon to ask her to pick me like that.

CHLOE*

It's never been a choice as to who I should pick. It goes down to what is right and what is wrong. I'm a horrible person since I'm pregnant and I'm going to continue with the investigation. I have been waiting for something like this forever and I'm not letting anything get in my way from it.

But...

Howard is being the perfect guy and I can tell by the way he's looking at me that he's begging me to be with him.

Regardless of any of that, I'm here for a job. I'm here to bring down the Russian Sex Trafficking Ring in Las Vegas. Too bad Grant is about to mess all of that up!

*********Author's Note!
TRIGGER WARNINGS! If you have certain triggers, do not read this book.

Review

After reading and reviewing the author's first book, Cuffed, I decided to give a second chance by reading the next installment in the series, Smite.

The author tried to take a unique approach to the story by taking it from three different character perspectives. While I appreciate the attempt at a creative approach, it was not done successfully. Part of the problem with it was that there were three character perspectives and also added in a Then vs Now perspective with each one rather than tell the story as a constant stream leading up to the "Now" moments. It became very confusing especially when reading and you have a Chloe Now chapter that is immediately followed up with a Chloe Then Chapter.

The second piece that drove me away from the story was the actual plot, or lack there of. For a book labeled Crime Fiction or Mystery, there wasn't much of it. The plot was greatly overshadowed by the love triangle of Howard, Chloe, and Grant. Most of the book was spent on Grant being pissed off he wasn't with Chloe, Howard obsessing over Chloe and Chloe deciding it was smart to sleep with the best friend to the guy she just broke up with. All of this happens while she's infiltrating a sex-trafficking ring. There's not much time devoted to the actual investigation or even her involvement with the sex-traffickers other than the occasional chapter that appeared every once and a while.

While the ending did give a sense of peace to the story, I was not a big fan of it. There was no real emotion or depth to the characters, and definitely did not depict how anyone would react given the horrific ordeal Chloe went through in the book.