I only just discovered S.J. Tilly’s books this weekend but I already can’t recall how she came up on my Amazon FYP. Or maybe it was my Twitter FYP? Either way, I’m happy that I followed my curiosity and checked out these titles (happily they are on (UK) KU if you’re keen to check them out)! TL;DR: These first two books in the Darling Series were steamy, funny, quirky small-town age gap romance reads and for the most part, I enjoyed all the characters and their stories. I can’t wait for this series to continue! 😍

I will also go ahead and preface my thoughts to say that if you’re not into: nicknames that are heavy on cheese and (ngl) a bit cringe, especially in book two; MMCs who are dominant (but not doms) and talk very dirty; a good amount of steamy scenes; and (unfortunately) instalove with “too-fast” HEAs, then these books will probably not be for you! I won’t lie and say that I’m not the biggest fan of instalove or “too-fast” HEAs but I didn’t mind too much about the former for the most part and just accepted the latter cos there was really nowhere else these stories were gonna go! 😂

This was a fun age gap/older brother’s best friend’s older brother romance—yes, it’s a mouthful! Ever since he came to her aid when she was just a kid and facing down a bully, Lou has been in hopeless unrequited love with Beckett. Their romance finally picks up again when she’s 30 and he’s 38 (8-year age gap) and they’re suddenly reunited on a camping trip. There’s a bit of a shy bumbling innocent quality to Lou’s character but I thought she was rather funny. I loved her relationship with her bestie, Maddie! Things kick off quickly in their romance and things get steamy fast but from the moment they’re reunited, I felt the pining and sexual tension! Their chemistry is intense and it resulted in some very fun steamy moments. It was a lot of fun to watch how quickly Beckett was consumed by his feelings for Lou after all these years she was pining for him and it was great that he made her feel so cherished. Their banter was also very cute! There was also an interesting ‘thriller‘ aspect to this that I was not at all expecting but it added to the intensity of the story and I enjoyed it.

There were only two things that I wish had been done differently. Beyond the physical, I wanted to see them getting to know each other better as adults. After all, almost 15 years have gone by since they last saw each other and I think it would’ve made their romance stronger and less instalove (and yes, it’s very instalove but at least they had some history and weren’t complete strangers but even that’s a stretch, lol). In getting to know each other, issue number two would’ve been moot and I think that Beckett was rather dumb for what he did (or more like what he didn’t do). I’m sorry, but the reason for the third-act conflict was just so silly and could’ve so easily been avoided if they’d just talked and got to know these very personal and important things people falling in love should know about each other. He wasn’t malicious, he was just stupid about it and his reasoning was ridonks that I think he deserved a gentle slap for it, haha. 🤣

Overall though, I still enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to and I can’t wait to continue on with Maddie’s story!

I’m ngl, I felt a bit let down by Maddie’s book and it had mostly to do with how the author wrote Maddie’s character. She’s a very skittish, meek and anxious FMC who is extremely confrontation-averse. She does not change at all from start to finish and I honestly thought we’d get a little bit more from by the end! That said, I still love her relationship with Lou—they’re true ride-or-die besties and I really liked Axel’s relationship with his son, Brian. It didn’t seem like they were close initially but we were shown differently by the end and it was sweet!

For the most part, I did like her relationship with Axel, even if it was overly cheesy and a bit cringe at times. Seriously, those nicknames y’all. I just… I had to grit my teeth a bit the more Axel used a certain nickname for her and when she started using a certain nickname for him, I had to tell myself to cool down on the eye-rolls, haha! 🤭 This felt a lot more instalove than book one because they don’t have that history Lou and Beckett had but things move very quickly in their relationship. Obviously, the physical aspect happens almost immediately—their lust was very insta too but I will not deny that their chemistry was fire! Their intimate scenes were delightfully steamy. Axel is a bit of a daddy bear dom who loves to talk dirty and I guess with Maddie’s rather “sweet” character, it worked. I liked how he made her feel loved and protected and how she made him feel loved and showed him it was okay to be affectionate but, same as in book one, I wish that we got to see them getting to know each other more over time and how they dealt with their 21-year age gap (she’s 31 and he’s 52).

The third-act conflict also felt slightly forced and that brings me back to Maddie’s “weak” character. Not to hate on an FMC but the girl needed to grow a backbone real bad! I also didn’t understand why she was so averse to confrontation and literally would cower at any hint of displeasure. Her self-confidence was beyond low but we were never really given a reason as to why or what made her feel this way before the third act.

Overall though, I did still enjoy this and despite the issues I had with it, I thought it was good but it just could’ve been better. I’m defo keen to read the next book whenever it comes out!

Have you read the Darling Series or anything by S.J. Tilly? If you have read her books, which do you think I should check out next?

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