Tryst Six Venom

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On another note, can I just say that I'm seriously side-eyeing the people who read this book and only gush about Olivia's brothers and how they can't wait for their book and how they're soooo hot. It's just so obvious when a straight person reads a sapphic romance. Especially when Olivia's brothers were so unkind to her, are awfully misogynistic and slut-shame women all the time. Despite the fact that I’ve mostly outgrown bully romances, bitchy heroines and high school drama galore, I ate this up like I eat my favorite pizza: enjoying every bite and not leaving a single crumble behind. I’ve realized that the only type of bully romances I like are the ones written by Penelope Douglas. She is a connoisseur of these type of stories, and her mastery was yet again displayed here. There really is nothing better than reading a book you’ve been anticipating for ages, and have your (pretty damn high) expectations met. So excuse me if I gloat and act smug for a bit, heh. Oh man, this book was so hot, it got me in to the delivery room... I KID YOU NOT! (Seriously, that's why it took me a while to publish the review) 😂

She’s like every woman on his arm—the same hair, the same clothes, the same smile, because to beat she has to compete, right? A comfortable breeze blows through the palms lining Augustine Avenue, grazing my bare legs in my jean shorts as the potted pink lantanas hang on the street lamps lining the road and fill the air with their scent.

Virginity is a concept invented by people to make women feel worthless for having sex.” I raise my eyebrows matter-of-factly. “You want to protect something. Protect your credit score. That’ll come in a lot handier someday.” I close my eyes, soaking up all the phone cameras recording us and the pictures that would survive of Clay Collins long after I’m gone. Images that will show who I am far louder than I can ever say in words. I didn’t want her. I wouldn’t allow myself to. We had our time and that was supposed to be over now. I was different, or at least I wanted to be. Clay Collins. The little princess. Clay's home life has been hard since her little brother died. Her mother is controlling and want to micro-manage everything, her father is never at home. She's miss little perfect.

And over time I came to understand that my oldest brother was only twenty-three that night, and twenty-three is still so young. That he was suddenly in charge of three minors to feed and clothe, a mountain of debt, and the prospect that life would never be more than this for him.” In the beginning, I hated how much I related to Clay. But as she came to terms with her sexuality I felt like I was looking through a mirror of my past, coming face to face with the lost and confused high school version of myself. She's also not without any good qualities. The work she does at the morgue is a perfect example of how she's more than meets the eye. Underneath her popular, privileged, tough girl exterior, she is compassionate and kind. Anyone that can do what she does is a special brand of human, and it bumped up my opinion of her exponentially.

Not one of my brothers gives a shit about who I sleep with, because they think pregnancy is the only way I can be hurt. They don’t ask about girlfriends. They don’t think this is anything more than fun. Liv is everything Clay wishes she could be. She knows what she wants out of life, and she goes after it. She's confident in her sexuality, unbothered by other people's judgements and opinions, and doesn't hide who she is for anyone. Simply put, Liv is free.

My claws dig into her skin and her fingers are ripping her hair out of my scalp as we go at each other—hitting, tearing, squeezing, and raging. This book has created quite the polarized opinionated buzz in indielandia. My advice to those opposing it merely on the fact that it's FF romance- Stuff it and read. She scrunches up her face in a smile, her apple cheeks perfect and her long, chestnut hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. “What would I do without you?” I have never read a queer romance prior to this one (neither MM nor FF). I’ve read many books featuring queer couples acting as side characters. Do you know what I mean? I’ve never been particularly interested (in MM/FF romance) either. I’m not opposed to this practice/culture in real life, but I always thought it was just something I wouldn’t prefer in my reading. Not that Clay has anything to share, anyway. Always in control, she owns the hallways, walking tall on Monday and then dropping to her knees like the good Catholic girl she is on Sunday. What she wants she has to hide.I loved how, despite the fact that they 'hated' each other and the whole bully aspect that was quite prevalent, the reader could sense this intense need they had for each other. And that is essentially why I loved this book so freaking much.