Review: All Chained Up by Sophie Jordan
All Chained Up (Devil's Rock #1)
by: Sophie Jordan
Publication Date: March 29, 2016
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult
Source: e-ARC provided via Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 384 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 3/5 stars
There are bad boys and then there are the men of Devil’s Rock . . .
Some men come with a built-in warning label. Knox Callaghan is one of them. Danger radiates from every lean, muscled inch of him, and his deep blue eyes seem to see right through to Briar Davis’s most secret fantasies. But there’s one major problem: Briar is a nurse volunteering at the local prison, and Knox is an inmate who should be off-limits in every way.
Knox feels it too—a shocking animal magnetism that drives him to risk his own life to protect Briar’s. Paroled at last, he tries to resist her. She’s too innocent, too sweet, and she has no idea what Knox is capable of. But a single touch can lead to a kiss—and a taste . . . until the only crime is denying what feels so right . . .
“When the prison doors are open, the real dragon will fly out.”—Ho Chi Minh
Some men come with a built-in warning label. Knox Callaghan is one of them. Danger radiates from every lean, muscled inch of him, and his deep blue eyes seem to see right through to Briar Davis’s most secret fantasies. But there’s one major problem: Briar is a nurse volunteering at the local prison, and Knox is an inmate who should be off-limits in every way.
Knox feels it too—a shocking animal magnetism that drives him to risk his own life to protect Briar’s. Paroled at last, he tries to resist her. She’s too innocent, too sweet, and she has no idea what Knox is capable of. But a single touch can lead to a kiss—and a taste . . . until the only crime is denying what feels so right . . .
“When the prison doors are open, the real dragon will fly out.”—Ho Chi Minh
This is my first adult novel by Sophie Jordan, but having really enjoyed her NAs, I was really looking forward to giving it a try! I definitely enjoyed this one, but I can't say it's a new favorite of mine or if I'll plan to reread it again. I really liked the premise of Briar and Knox falling for one another, after having met in prison (it reminded me a bit of Sarah and Michael from Prison Break!). However, I felt I didn't get to know Knox's character well enough and instead I had trouble buying their emotional connection. It's very physical and while I am all for sexy times, that's kind of all we got from them.
I do understand that Knox has served 8 years in prison and obviously that changes a person. However, he was so hard to read and almost too tough. I think seeing him interact with his family a bit more, maybe would have helped, as his loyalty to his family and outrage over what happened to a family member is what landed him behind bars in the first place. He was also super hot and cold with Briar and I had trouble with that. I didn't feel as if he wanted more than sex with Briar. I know that he felt that was all he could offer her, but it still just didn't really work for me. I can see it up to a point, but then it just got a bit old.
There was a surprise chapter thrown in that originally jarred me, but after I realized what was happening, I thought it was a cool set up for the next book. I am definitely hoping for more of a connection there between the characters.
Briar's sister Laurel wasn't my favorite either and while I get that she was looking out for her kid sister, I do think she should have handled the situation with Knox a bit better. I wasn't a fan of how that went down and how magically she decided at the end that they should be together and that she realized she was wrong.
Overall, I felt Briar and Knox's relationship wasn't developed as well as it could have been, as it really made me feel he was just using for her sex and that was the only reason he kept coming back. I get that physical, primal attraction but I just needed more to really buy into it. I also felt certain parts dragged at times and while I was still interested, I did find myself fading a bit while reading.
5 comments
Ahh this bumms me out... I was really looking forward to this one. Maybe knowing going in that its mostly about the sexy times will help me lol. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time with this one. I couldn't put it down, but it's kind of messed up. And I agree, there was so much sex, which isn't bad, of course, but I also wanted a stronger emotional connection.
ReplyDeletePlus, I just have hard time with a hero being a murderer and convict.
Yeah I felt exactly the same way about this one as you did, Jess. Knox was really hard to gauge as a character and their relationship was definitely more physical than anything. I would have loved to see more scenes of them interacting more emotionally.
ReplyDeleteHer HR books are better, IMO!
Great review, Jess!
This one sounds unique and I also love Sophie Jordan's NA but I am with you -- I need more than the physical connection! Great review Jessica!
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of Sophie Jordan, I was excited to see you were reviewing All Chained Up. I'm sorry that the connection to Knox wasn't there...you're probably right in that a few scenes showing his interactions with family would have made all the difference. Hopefully the next installment will flesh out the characters and their relationship better. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jessica!
ReplyDeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
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