DNF

The blurb for Sharon Wray’s EVERY DEEP DESIRE sounded interesting and right up my alley, but the delivery was so lacking that I gave up ~20% of the way in. Putting the cart before the horse can work to reel readers in and make them feel compelled to figure out how the cart got to where it is, but the approach didn’t work for me in EVERY DEEP DESIRE… either because the cart consists of a serious case of WTFery or because it’s poorly executed. Possibly both. Neither Rafe and Juliet’s Baz Lurhmann Romeo+Juliet-esque love story nor the Prince’s mysterious Fianna warriors engendered any genuine interest or curiosity in me and the writing rubbed me completely the wrong way, so I threw in the towel fairly early on. There’s a very small possibility I’ll give it another go in the future, but it’s doubtful my issues with it will be resolved.

**ARC from publisher via NetGalley

I requested this book from NetGalley because of the blurb and influenced by a high rating from an author I like. Although I love tortured heroes, this is just not my kind of story – I found the plot and its paranormal and literary references and allusions far-fetched and I couldn’t keep track of all the characters and narrative lines or get interested in them.
I struggled with the reading and it wasn’t enjoyable at all, so I gave up in the first third of the book.
I’m sure this will work for other readers, but it’s not for me.

I had a bit of a trying time with ‘Every Deep Desire’, though the blurb did given an indication that it wasn’t going to be a typical romantic suspense novel. The extent to which it was atypical however, came as quite a surprise.

And the setup is not unpredictable: after a 8-year hiatus, Rafe Montford returns to a marriage that he supposedly tore apart. Branded as a traitor and jailed for a few of those years, nothing keeps him from wanting his ex-wife safe after the cryptic notes that she has been getting—a sure sign of his past coming back to haunt him. The details thereafter, are hazy, with many hints that point at something, but that something big isn’t unravelling until you get deeper and deeper into the book.

This much sounds normal, yet the way the suspense is woven and written is in no way usual.

But as much as this odd tilt of literary (read: Shakespearean) and mythical (or Italian) undertones with Romeo/Juliet leanings that also reminded me of Dan Brown-type conspiracy theories made the story unique, it frustrated me in part because getting a grasp of the story, place, context and its characters—who go by a variety of codenames, to add to the confusion and secrecy—was basically a struggle. I couldn’t go on without feeling like there were a few missing vital jigsaw pieces that prevented the whole picture from coming together. The uphill battle to make sense of the whole setup went on for me for a quite a while—so call me slow and most unintuitive—and got exhausting as I tried to make sense of it.

There are brutal anti-heroes and then there are brutal anti-heroes, characters who stood on sides that made them both villains and heroes at the same time…and so difficult to root for. With the story's greyed out boundaries, with drug-lords, mafia kingpins and arms-dealers given that mystery and glitz in that Baz Luhrmann Romeo+Juliet way (throw in military suspense into it as well), it pretty felt after a while, like stylish overkill.

I'm going to just say it's not the book for me, though maybe those who like Shakespeare with a very huge twist can get into this a lot better than I did.

Every Deep Desire a dark mystery suspense romance with No holds barred.
In Every Deep Desire, everything was taken away from Rafe Montfort a decorated Green Beret. Labeled a traitor by everyone he knows and loves. He has now come backed to reclaim his life and to restore honor to his name.
Juliet Capel had a hard life. But she assumed all was going to change, for the better when she married the love of her life, Rafe Montfort. Her outlook on her life altered with one single letter and a knock at her door.
Every Deep Desire is book #1 of Deadly Force series, written by Sharon Wray. This story isn't your standard romance. It’s more mystery suspense with literature overtone on Shakespeare. With twist and turns that will have you turning the page to find out what happens next. This title even surprised me. I went into this book not knowing what it was about. The first several chapters were about building the plot than from there it was all about character building and the mystery of What happened to Rafe. The story has a hidden meaning of how one’s past could alter ones’ future and how one chances meeting can have a massive impact on said future.
Every Deep Desire a dark mystery suspense which is sure to please fans. An excellent start to this new series.

I'm loving the books released by Sourcebooks Casablanca and this was one of those books that I could not put down until I discovered who'd framed the former Green Beret, and Prince's man, Rafe and what the mystery behind the Lily was.
The story unravels a legend of the Prince's men, Fianna, men who bow before they execute. They are also known to quote or communicate their actions by uttering lines from Shakespearean works. Rafe is released from prison, eight years after he'd sent a letter to his wife Juliet, allegedly stating his decision to walk out on her. She's had to pick herself up and start her own business, but once he's out, he knows that she's in danger and he does everything to protect her, including enduring her mistrust and anger towards him. There is however something that has not changed, and that is her love and desire to be with him, but Rafe does not know whether that would be enough because once you've made an oath to the Prince, there's no going back.
The fast paced unraveling of events made this a thrilling read. I could not wait to know who was behind all the attacks on the people Rafe cared about and why.
I loved how the author created a mystery around the Prince's men, there was always one more thing to be discovered about the men at every turn. It made me anxious to get to the root of it all.
I also noted that if you are neither a Shakespeare buff nor interested in the works, you can miss the underlying messages in the lines the Prince's men quote and I believe the author went easy on the reader when it came to the conversation between Rafe and the Prince. Their talks were more open and you could feel as though the Prince valued and trusted Rafe.
On the characters, what I empathized was the feeling of hopelessness in the A-Team members because they were wrongly accused and time was running out on them. The misunderstanding which led to Rafe being labeled a traitor, put them and the townsfolk against Rafe and this was more of a internal battle for the man. I'd love to thank Netgalley for the arc and the publishers.