The Young & the Sinner by V.T. Do // ARC Review

The Young & the Sinner by V.T. Do

Standalone - The Entangled Past series
Release - February 15, 2021
Genre - Contemporary Romance/age gap
Dual POV - 1st person
Heat - extremely slow build/4 out of 5
Format/Source - eARC provided by the author
Length - 469 pages
Publisher - Indie

Mason:
Olivia Williams is everything I’m not supposed to want. Pure. Sweet. Young.
I know better than to seduce an innocent. I know better than to fall for my brother’s ward. There is just something about her that I can’t get enough of. Something I can’t stay away from.
I tried to resist her in the beginning. Tried to leave her alone—let her heal from her family’s mistake. Let her grow up in that happy existence she is trying so hard to build with my brother.
Then tragedy strikes, and I find I can no longer stay away from her. I want to protect her from every hurt in this world, protect that innocence in those deep, brown eyes. But can I protect her from myself? What happens when you’re the reason the girl you love is hurting? What happens when you are the villain in her fairy tale? Can she ever forgive me for my past sins? And more importantly, would she want to when all of my hideous secrets come to light?

Olivia:
Mason Kade is everything I’m not. Dominant. Confident. Beautiful…
Sinner.
I know better than to fall for that enigmatic smile of his. I know better than to fall for my guardian’s brother. There is just something about him that makes me want to sink in a little deeper each time. He is the one temptation I can’t abstain from. Even when he tries to resist us, I see the truth in those bottomless blue eyes of his. He wants me. And I will do whatever it takes to keep him.
I should have listened to his warning instead. I know better than to build my hopes and dreams on a fairy tale. Yet, I naively thought he would be my happily ever after.
That’s my mistake.

I think a great age gap romance might be one of my not-so-secret secret pleasures. In The Young & the Sinner, Olivia is a young woman who has had to deal with her fair share of heartbreak. From abandonment to secrets, she's had a rough go at growing up. Fortunately for her, she's got two beautiful, supportive, understanding, and protective men in her life - Max and Mason Kade. One is the father figure she's always wanted. The other is her chance at love. And while Mason had his own painful past and a huge secret to share, there was no denying their inevitable connection and the emotions that would bond them.

This read more like a coming-of-age romance than anything else. It took a long while for the relationship to build and to be. I think my biggest issue with this story was that it was too long. There was so much time spent on Olivia's repetitive thoughts and emotions that it felt like it took forever to get to the meat of the story. Slow build would be an understatement, however, when it finally came, it was hot and sweet and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the writing, the main characters, and even the side characters proved to be interesting. I loved Max the most though. I know, I was surprised too. With someone like him in your corner, you can't help but be the best you can be. He was awesome!!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tr8SSr

V.T. Do grew up in beautiful Colorado with words on her mind and dreams in her eyes. Writing is the best way for her to express herself, and she has been doing that for as long as she can remember. When she's not writing, you can find her talking to herself, daydreaming, hunting magical creatures, and obsessively reading. The Mess You Left Behind is her first book, and with many more coming soon!

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