Maximoff Hale is all grown up and ready for love. But who is his unlikely new partner?
Dates read: 14/12/2023 to 22/12/2023
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Word to describe: Charming
Genre: Romantic Fiction/LGBT Romance
When we first met Maximoff Hale he was a cute baby to our favourite superhero-loving couple Lily and Loren Hale. Readers watched him grow into a young boy and a curious teenager and that was the last time we saw him - when we said goodbye to the Calloway Sisters and their epic romances, or so we thought.
Damaged Like Us shows readers a new version of Moffy Hale, grown up into a rugged and nerdy version of his uncle Ryke Meadows who has lived his whole life in the spotlight. Not afraid of the paparazzi and their endless obsession with his family Moffy has moved on to bigger things. Like his charity work, his loving home with his cousin Jane and the many adopted kitties, and.. fine. And the hot bodyguard that is taking over his service and he may have had a crush on him for like his entire life okay! But it's fine. Moffy does not date and his bodyguard is just that, a bodyguard. Who is he kidding?!
Farrow has changed from Lily Hale's service to that of her son, a man he knew as an awkward teenage boy and someone he has silently lusted for on the sidelines. The only thing getting in the way is his job. Pity that the one thing that brings Farrow and Moffy together is also the one thing that will ultimately tear them apart.
I thought Damaged Like Us was a sweet start to the next generation of Calloway/Hale/Meadows/Cobalt clan. But, as lovely as it was to see the characters grow up and have cameos from my favourite couples from the Calloway Sisters series, I was disappointed. The romance between Farrow and Moffy, sexy at times, felt incredibly rushed. What I loved about the prequel series is how the romance was filled with tension and there was a deep friendship connection between the characters. There was none of this with Farrow and Moffy. They went from zero to one hundred within a few pages and I almost got whiplash!
There were moments in the books that were pleasantly enjoyable with cute romantic scenes between Moffy and Farrow, my only wish is that instead of throwing these in towards the end of the book is that they were sprinkled throughout the book so the sexual tension would be allowed to build. Is that too much to ask?
I can happily and maybe awkwardly say some plot twists made for brilliant entertainment. Jane getting drunk, Moffy being caught with hickeys by the paparazzi, and perhaps most famously the incest scandal. The final few chapters of the book brought back the passion I had hoped to find in this new series. I will be entirely honest if the last few chapters hadn't created such hilarious and candid moments I would have given up on this series entirely!
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