Publisher: Penguin
Where did you get the book: eARC from publisher
Release date: Out now
When the secrets of the past begin to surface, the truth can be disarming
Twenty-six-year-old Elsie Sherman has had a crush on her brother’s best friend, Henry Logan, since she was twelve years old. Unfortunately, Henry—now an Air Force officer—has only ever treated her like a younger sister, stepping into her brother’s shoes after he was killed in action.
That is, until the night when one dance ignites a sensual fire between the two, leaving Elsie aroused and confused. Is she allowed to lust after her surrogate big brother, who also happens to be her roommate? As the passion between them crosses the line into a territory that teases with the forbidden, Elsie decides to give herself to the man she has always desired. But Elsie is not prepared for where the relationship will take her.
Henry has been harboring two secrets. One can bring them closer together. The other will tear them apart. Now, with each startling new revelation, Elsie realizes that only she can decide if the past can ever be forgiven—and if a future with Henry is worth fighting for.
*blurb taken from Goodreads*
At the time I accepted this for review, I was in the mood for military type romances after loving Jen Frederick’s Woodland series and Jessica Scott’s Coming Home series. I enjoyed Disarm but I don’t think the story went deep enough into the character’s emotions. Also, the pacing of the story was off which I believe is due to its past as being a serial.
Some positives: I really liked the narrator’s voice and the author’s writing. I think she’s very talented and I loved how she created Elsie’s personality and her banter with Henry. I love the friends-to-lovers trope and I also love the best-friend’s-brother trope, and this book had both. Henry and Elsie had a natural and easy-going relationship with one another but the emotion was missing between them and this is where I felt as if emotions just skimmed above the surface. Everything happened so quickly and a lot of the scenes were very abrupt and I think this proves that you can’t simply grab a serial and bring it together into one book without expanding on scenes. I felt the same with Henry and Elsie; their relationship is quick and their break-up is quick. Another issue I had was no real emotion from Elsie and Henry about the death of Jason, Elsie’s brother. They said they were sad but there weren’t any scenes showing the depth of their grief.
I also wasn’t keen on Henry’s flashbacks because I felt it was just filler that rehashed the story from his POV and it didn’t move the story forwards or changed his character in anyway. Unfortunately, the pacing of the story felt so off and I got so frustrated with their break-up and their reactions that I gave up on page 289 of the book. The book is 384 pages and it’s strange to have such a long book and feel as if the scenes were too quick and abrupt. There’s no development of the characters and they’re the same people from the start of the book till the page where I stopped reading.
I feel as if my review is as disjointed as Disarm. I enjoyed Elsie and Henry’s relationship at the beginning but by halfway, I felt the pacing of the story started to unravel and there wasn’t enough emotion shown that the story needed; by then I had lost interest in the characters and in the book.
I give Disarm a C-