RELEASE DAY REVIEW: Passion Rising (Original Sin #4)

Passion Rising (Original Sin #4), by J.A. Huss and Johnathan McClain
Publish Date: May 8, 2018
Publisher: self-published
Format: e-ARC, provided by the authors
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Rating: 4 STARS

(Synopsis) Old demons are back.

Maddie’s dealing with the fallout of her choices. Safety and happiness are relative, elusive things she’s desperate to have. But they will forever remain out of reach until the demons of her past are laid to rest.

Tyler’s mistakes resurface to haunt him and he’s just beginning to understand that money can’t fix a broken relationship. He must open his heart and search for answers he’d rather not find.

She wants peace in a world made of chaos.

He wants to rid himself of a lifetime of guilt.

They’re soul mates, but that’s no guarantee.

They’ll need to rely on each other to find their happily ever after.

Because the fight never ends—it just gets easier with someone at your side.

Passion Rising punctuated the fact that, as a whole, the Original Sin series is really more of an experience than just a series of books for you to read. These four books are not just a story of a boy getting a second chance with a girl and, after some drama and some bad stuff happening, living happily ever after. It's not nearly as cut-and-dry and "tropey" as all that.

Once again, I have to be super cagey, because so much of what happens in Passion Rising is a culmination of things that have been happening and building throughout the first three books in this series. I CAN say that this final book is about self-reflection on both Tyler and Maddie's parts. After everything that has happened to them, they are both left saying, "Okay, so now what?" Them being a couple isn't in question - of COURSE they are a couple. But, the health of their coupledom depends largely on how they now see themselves.

If you'll recall, in my review for Sin With Me (Original Sin #1), I said, "Truthfully, these two are some of the saddest and most despondent people I've ever read about." And it was true. The circumstances of Maddie's and Tyler's lives up to this point had lead them to their own versions of hell on earth. They were treading water with no forward movement and no hope.

You would think that with all the crazy stuff that happened to them over the three books prior to Passion Rising, that we would now see a woman and a man broken beyond repair. But, instead, we see the opposite. The events leading up to book 4 forced them to work together, to wade through their past hurts, to face their current fears and to lean on each other.

I love the way these two love each other. They would give their lives for each other and are looking forward to what comes next in their lives. Their banter is adorable, their sex is hot and their love is lasting. It's everything you could want in a romance book. Plus, you get angels, devils (figurative, not literal), action, closure and a really good death scene.

I think JA Huss considers her first collaborative writing effort a success. I know I do. And I'm already looking ahead to what's next from my new favorite writing duo.