Crossed by Emily McIntire on August 1, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Noir, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Pages: 464
Format: eBook
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
“For so long, I hated her because I feared her. And now I fear her because I crave her.”
He is righteousness. She is sin. Father Cade Frédéric is a holy man. Brought up in the streets of Paris, he has dedicated his life to the church. But there’s a monster that lingers just beneath the surface. A sickness. One that bleeds darkness and feeds on the damned. When he’s tasked to become the priest in Festivalé, Vermont, a town both beautiful in architecture and riddled with despair, his sickness sings, demanding he rid the place of evil. Amaya Paquette is Festivalé’s beautiful mystery. She spends her days caring for her younger brother and her nights transforming into Esmeralda, dancing for greedy eyes and shameless lips. Although she longs for love, she shies away from companionship, afraid of being abandoned again. When Father Cade lays eyes on Amaya, he finds himself ensnared, convinced she’s using witchcraft to lure him to her. He can’t eat. Can’t breathe. Can’t think unless it’s of her. And temptation is a devastating mistress. She’s his weakness, so he decides he’ll be her demise…even if it means killing the only woman he might ever love.
I liked getting to know these characters. Amaya is fierce and loyal. She went through a lot of trauma but always made sure it show up for her little brother. Cade wasn’t as strong of a character for me he was pretty one note. A tortured priest is a character I haven’t seen many times before and not fully sure on how I feel about it. I do think there was to much inner monologue which kept the characters from interacting and developing a stronger relationship. There were also times when it felt repetitive.
I gave this novel a 3.5 star rating. It was not one of my favorites of hers and I know she can do better. On top of that, though this was a dark romance, Cade and Amaya never really got to know one another. It was insta-love and obsession, rather than taking time to build a relationship. They barely even talk. And then there’s the 70% slow burn. It just wasn’t a great read and it needed some sincere editing.