I’ve been in love with my dad’s best friend, Isaiah, since I was thirteen years old, which is when I started planning our future together—down to the song we would dance to at our wedding and the paint color of our bedroom walls. After five years of Isaiah pushing me away and breaking my heart, I hoped he would sweep me into his arms when I turned eighteen and confess he was secretly in love with me…Instead, I received a handwritten letter from the love of my life that shattered every dream I had of the future.
Isaiah
My best friend, Sherman, and his family meant as much to me as my own, though I kept my distance from Sherman’s young daughter, Bailey. Everyone expected her to grow out of her crush on me and move on, but she only grew more obsessed as time passed. After making a mistake that I deeply regretted when she came to me on the night of her eighteenth birthday, I knew what I had to do.
In the almost four years since I’d last seen Bailey, I deluded myself into thinking she couldn’t possibly be as beautiful as I remembered. I was so wrong. I tried to push her away, just as I always did, but the tempting little angel’s schemes to get my attention finally worked…and now, she’s not the only one obsessed.
His Relentless Angel is the 2nd book in the Their Angels series but can be read as a standalone. HRA is a full-length, spicy, dad’s best friend, age-gap romance. All characters are 18+. Please read the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book. Happily ever after guaranteed.
May Alder would like to thank her life-long maladaptive daydreaming disorder and rampant #daddyissues for the storylines that have been brewing in her mind for years. Her need to turn them into something productive, a positive instead of a negative, has spurred her to write her stories and release them into the world.
Once I let this simmer I had to change it to 3 stars from 3.5.
So I wasn’t expecting this book. After reading the first one (which I liked) I really wanted a book for Bailey and Isaiah but I wasn’t expecting one to come so soon after I read the first one or at all.
I will say it’s going to be super hard to top James from the first book. He was everything you could ever want from a book boyfriend and he was also a virgin.
Isaiah didn’t live up to James at all!! He’s 36/37 in this book but his actions are so immature. He’s such an asshole at the beginning of this book which I wasn’t expecting because I liked him in the first book. Bailey has been obsessed with him since she was 13. Not the normal kind of obsessed but the delusional kind of obsessed. Like when she turns 16 she sends him videos of her in her bikini. She thinks he secretly loves her even though he’s an absolute asshole to her. Why she’s so obsessed with him I have no idea. So finally on her 18th birthday she seduces him and they kiss for the first time. He’s so torn up over this that he MOVES AWAY to another state, writes her a note about how she’s disturbed and ruined his life and all this shit. He doesn’t mean it but he’s so mad at himself for wanting her so he’s so mean to her. They don’t see each other again for three years when Bailey is 21.
Now I was like yes I can’t wait, Bailey is going to have moved on and be like eff that guy. He didn’t want me when I wanted him so he can’t have me now. But did we get that?! NO. We get a girl who has saved literally everything for him, has never dated and is still hopeful that they can be together! Omg it’s so embarrassing. She doesn’t throw herself at him but she doesn’t make him work for it either. He apologizes and he feels awful but he’s done so much damage to her self esteem that I really needed her to hold out longer. The only thing that made it better was the fact that he wasn’t with anyone during the 3 years they were apart.
They get together and are both equally obsessed now but their relationship is all sex. He says he loves her but all he ever wants to do is have sex with her. We have no idea why or how he fell in love with her because they never have any meaningful conversations. All they do is have sex. They have an issue? They have sex. Sex, sex, sex. It was so frustrating! I was also very angry that Isaiah didn’t stand up for her when his brother was mean to her. All he did was take her in the bathroom and have sex with her. Like that just fixes everything!!
There’s some OW drama when they meet again. Her and her family along with Isaiah are all out to eat. His ex shows up and they are obviously cordial because he invites her to sit and eat with them. Bailey goes to the bathroom and when she comes back she sees the girl on his lap and him kissing her jaw. Later on he tells Bailey that his lips didn’t even make contact with her skin. He was just trying to make Bailey jealous and this is what I mean by him being immature. He’s acting like a teenager. He had no reason to try and make her jealous because she already wanted him!!!
I loved Baileys parents also. They were funny. I would love to read about how they got together.
I’m looking forward to Autumns book. And also I really need a book about Grayson and Lainey!! They are adoptive siblings. They grew up together but aren’t blood related but you can just see the vibes there even as little kids about how protective he is over her. And then when they are teenagers he’s still so protective. I feel their book coming like 4 years from the epilogue.
NO CHEATING SOME OW DRAMA LIGHT OM DRAMA (she gets flirted with) NO THIRD ACT BREAK UP AGE GAP 21/36 TALK OF MENTAL HEALTH HEA (epilogue 4 yrs later)
I love myself a good, unrequited love story, but I felt so bad for Bailey 😭. I get that she loved Isaiah, but I wished that she let him properly apologize as opposed to just quickly accepting and stopping them. I related a lot to some of her feelings, so I wish that SHE stood up for herself more 😕.
All that aside, I really enjoyed this—it was so sweet and really nicely written. MA always delivers with these novels and never fails to add all the cute, domestic scenes that I always eat up.
All in all, I really liked this one - that epilogue was so sweet 😭
My guy literally wrote a letter to her parents telling them what a crazy delusional loser she was and moved in the middle of the night to get away from her. 😂 Honestly feel like she wasn't petty enough. The way I would have been in my full Cruella Di Vel era if this happened to me.
I’m gonna be real guys I almost DNF’d this book cause the hero was a grade-a- asshole in the beginning, but I powered through
TROPES
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•Age gap (36H, 21h) •Virgin heroine •Dads best friend •Interracial relationship •Unrequited love •Obsessed h •Slow burn •grumpy/cold hero •forbidden love •Breeding kink
Miss May Alder has been a one-click author for me! Love her books. Ran fast to KU once I've been notified that this is already published. This has been one of my most anticipated books since I've seen the potential of the Main charas. I love me some unrequited love angst however I don't think I am not the intended audience for this book.
• obsessive fmc { well, one of the reasons that this did not worked out for me was I love my mmc the one being in that position. } she is kinda borderline delusional and too crazy for me. Girlie was tough as hell bro. • All pushing away from MMC, none from the FMC {which quite frankly I understand given the forbidden-ish age gap and the circumstance where fmc was a minor. PS. he was never attracted to her when she was a minor} • No grovelling, or good chasing from the MMC's side { Not that he has a lot to really grovel about but he has a handful okay? my opinion here was very divided because a child who was borderline crossing boundaries and obsessing over an adult was really annoying. So he yap and complained about it, which was given. At the same time he mayhaps should treat her better than how he treated her like brooo come on. I thought he was a softie when he was introduced in the first book lol. Though, I, again understand because on the scale of how delusional the FMC is she would put a romantic meaning if he further treated her well. Also girlie's heart was made of steel bro, no matter how bad she was treated by the MMC she never gave up like??? girl omg get up wth what are you doing on the freaking floor? no. atp she was in hell on how down bad she is to the point I am getting actual shivers from the second hand embarrassment. She did all the chasing and shii🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️}
At this point I was eager to DNF, skim, and go about my day like this never existed.
• Also, I don't feel any chemistry between the two tbh. • along the story, I think FMC mentioned not feeling normal or feeling like something is wrong with her, and considering therapy which made me cheer for her a bit but idk correct me if iam wrong but it was never talked about again? like i was waiting for the whole topic to be explored;? • Ended in HEA I think??? surely yeah. kinda forget about it already.
All in all, I might just be not into the reverse obssessive trope lol.
Safety • I honestly forget if the FMC was a v or not but defo she is one • MMC is celibate since the moment they kissed on her 18th birthday, there is a separation, he is celibate during those years. She defo is celibate and a v also. { since they do the deed after the separation } • When they met again, during a family get together that the MMC is included because heey, He and FMC's father are besties; He bring a date. Someone who he fooled around with during college. He brought the OW to the get together with a promise that he'll bring her home afterwards. He said in his pov that he only say that but has no plans on continuing to do so. LOL so anyway, during the whole time, MMC and the ow flirt around, being clingy towards each other, mmc kissing ow's cheeks, laughing and talking animatedly with eo, ow sitting on mmc's lap yada yada. Nothing happened between them though.
I ended up getting frustrated by the end of it. FMC made me drink a shot of a strong 🍺 afterwards tbh. lol.
Won't rate it since I DnF'ed. Now listen, I am down for a lot of things when it comes to plot points. But apparently, what I'm not down for, is some kid pining for her dad's best friend and being VERY creepy about it.
I mean, just, ew. I know kids can have crushes on older people and whatnot but the way she was SO pushy about it and how her parents never told her to stop were such big red flags for me. Adults can feel threatened by kids too, you know? There's a difference between a cute little childhood crush and literally being a creepy little shit.
Anyway. This was definitely not my thing. I really hate immature characters as is but this one was one of the worst. Bye.
Bailey's unshakable love for Isaiah started at the age of 13 and never wavered. The girl knows who she wants and endured so much pain along the way; the way my heart broke for her over and over. Ugh.
Loved seeing Isaiah finally get his act together and reciprocate Bailey's love as well as support her mental health struggles; really beautifully written. Also, the text thread banter had me in literal tears and Autumn is my spirit animal 😂
I will say this book had my pettiness wanting to come out! After all her heartbreak I was really wanting her to hurt his feelings just a little 🤏🏾 😅 Thank goodness she wasn't as petty as me, cause I really did love their story and ending; so freaking good! ❤
Parts of this book disturbed me. I don’t understand why the age play felt like a good addition. I knew this book was going to creep me out but I wanted to take a chance. I’m going to take a chance again on another book from this author. The first book in this series I felt like so fulfilled by, though it was toeing the line with age and there were somethings sexually that deff weren’t for me I was like ok do u still. This book I was like and you’re done. Romance readers go through so much.
I really wanted to like this bc I like other books from this author, but this one just didn't do it for me. Isaiah needed to grovel more, in my opinion. He shattered Bailey's heart multiple times, but she just turns a blind eye to it all. Instantly forgiven. The switch between him wanting her was very iffy too tbh. I get it, but I think we just needed more build up for them knowing each other for almost 10 years by this point. All their moments just feel thrown together. Maybe Autumn gets a book, and it will be better 🙏
Im usually in love with MA’s books but this one was just bad. I still felt bad for bailey till the end and felt like the mmc didnt even work for it. I guess her being wayyyy too obsessed isnt the trope for me.
each bailey chapter, i need to remind myself that this is just a book!! JUST A BOOK!! JUST A BOOK!! FICTIONNNN!!
everyone, come repeat after me. never :) beg :) for :) anyone :) and :) NO :) means :) no :) !!!!!!
unrequited love suckkkk but man like isaiah is POS :))))
bailey need to touch grass 😭😭😭😭 like girl…… i got secondhand embarrassment and i never feel bad for character but for bailey…. please.. MOVE ON 😭😭😭 he just attract to you bo d y plsssssssssssss
so hard to continue this book but i really hate dnf after 40% agghgh
B is the definition of manifestation but low key I wish there was a bit more "let me prove my love" from him because he was so mean to her growing up (and I get it, he was a kid, but even after as an adult he was kinda mean). The proof came in terms of sex 😅 which cool cool but would have been cool to see more intimate conversations especially because she had some low self esteem with the constant "no" she recieved and the way her family saw her "silly obsessive crush".
Still enjoyed it. I want more for sure from the author and the series.
ITA Una storia di amore non corrisposto e dolcissima rinascita, piena di sensualità e crescita personale. Conosciamo Bailey e Isaiah nel secondo volume di questa serie eccezionale.
TRAMA Bailey ama Isaiah, il migliore amico di suo padre e suo cognato, fin da quando era ragazzina. Ma lui non l'ha mai guardata in quel modo, soprattutto non quando quella di Bailey diventa un'ossessione da cui, per scappare, è costretto ad allontanarsi. Le ferite sono tante, per entrambi. Finché non si rivedono anni dopo e qualcosa cambia. Bailey è adulta, è più fredda ma è insicura e triste, mentre Isaiah vive col senso di colpa di averle fatto del male ed essersi allontanato dall'unica casa che abbia mai conosciuto. Il loro nuovo, tenero sentimento, basterà a far dimenticare il passato?
Sono ormai abituata alla scrittura dell'autrice, che riesce sempre a scrivere trame molto carine, con il giusto equilibrio di spice e intreccio e personaggi interessantissimi, tutti collegati come in una grande famiglia. Non mi aspettavo il livello di tensione e malinconia della storia di Bailey e Isaiah, la colpa di lui e la tristezza di lei e il modo in cui riescono a ricostruirsi a vicenda, dandosi forza e sicurezza. Mi è piaciuto molto, mi ha fatto piangere ma anche tanto, tanto ridere. Spero davvero che quest'autrice arrivi anche in Italia, perché è magnifica!
VOTO: 5/5
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ENG This is a story of unrequited turned into sweet, reciprocal salvation. Meet Bailey and Isaiah!
BLURB Bailey has always been in love with Isaiah, her father and brother-in-law's best friend. But she's first just a girl, and then too much of a young woman to be with him. Her obsession has never been reciprocated, making her sad even now that she's twenty one. But something shifts between her and Isaiah, something grows where it seemed impossible. Would that be enough to survive the storm of past rejection?
This one was angsty and tender and made me cry so much. Who never understood the coils of unrequited love? The pain of not being enough, of fighting to be seen by the person you care about. That's what happens to Bailey and it's harder because Isaiah is always there with her family, as handsome as ever. And when their feelings change and they grow attached, Bailey must also face her dark thoughts of insecurity and loss.
I'm in awe at how May Alder can convene so many different personalities and feelings in her stories, how there's happy ending but also a chance to really reason about ourselves, our desires and fears. I love that there is such a well built plot, with sweet declarations and scorching hot moments. The perfect balance. Can't wait for other volumes in this series!
Okay so boom… I knew I was in trouble when they started replaying her birthdays like ✨dirty deleted scenes✨ from her teenage years. Not in a cringey way, but in a let’s explore the fantasy of what could’ve happened if he wasn’t pushing her away way. And listen—I’m a grown woman and I was sitting there like “Why is this working? Why am I breathing heavier than her??”
Bailey’s been crazy in love with Isaiah since she was thirteen and honestly? It shows. But I kind of love that about her. She’s delulu and unhinged but committed—and he’s an emotionally repressed daddy’s-bestie with a moral compass that wobbles when she turns eighteen and starts really looking like temptation in a crop top. He runs, sure—but not far enough.
Their reunion had me kicking my feet and clutching my pearls. The mental health themes, the rejection angst, the emotional damage? It hit. Isaiah’s struggle between desire and self-hatred was frustrating and hot. Mostly frustrating, but still… hot.
And let’s talk about the spice. There was no lactation kink or stroke-counting this round, but babyyyy—those birthday fantasy scenes? I had to pause and reevaluate my entire moral standing. The way they are like “You remember that time you sent the picture in the orange bikini? Let me show you what I would’ve done…” had me like sir… SIR.
Also, can we get a prequel please?? The answer is Yesssss because there is one !!! Because Shayla and Bailey’s momma clearly walked so these girls could run—and I want to see just how messy mama was when she caught her man. Based on her daughters, I know it was wild.
Final thoughts: Not as flawless as The Guardian’s Angel (James still holds the throne), but this was a dirty, emotionally messy, morally questionable good time. And yes—it’s definitely going in the age-gap-but-it-slaps tag. Because baby, it did.
DNF this book at 35% into the book. Still going to rate it as well.
This book was a big red ass flag to me. It was 🤢 to me. I'm rating it as 1 star for me. I really don't like a child somewhat falling in love with a much older man, 15 years her father's best friend. That is suck!
I'm okay for a lot of triggering content but a 13 falling/pining over a man who is 15 years older than her, as she is 13 years old and her father's best friend as well. It is not what I like to read about or hear about. It is very creepy to read about a 13-year-old falling in love with a 28-year-old. Yes, I do know that kids will have crushes or what they think is falling in love, but they usually get over them quickly or move onto someone else. But noooo, not teh moron of FMC, she still "loves" him.
I had a red flag regarding her situation. Her parents never told her to stop her behavior or suggested that she seek counseling, which she definitely needed! This lack of intervention falls on the parents. Additionally, her father's best friend should not have come over; he should have advised her father to remove himself from her life.
Now, if they had talked to her about this and nothing had changed, they could have considered sending her to an all-girls school with very strict rules!
Overall, this was definitely not my thing. I really dislike immature characters, but this one was particularly annoying. Goodbye.
I was so excited for their book. But unfortunately, the first 30% had me just crying because I felt so bad for Bailey. She just loved him and was so devoted to him and he treated her like crap. And don’t get me wrong. I get it. She was under age and he was an adult man. But still, he didn’t have to treat her so mean, and just be so crappy towards her.
So he went from being like that all of a sudden flipping the script when she was 22 and being completely in love with her. I found it hard for myself to switch and not be upset with him and like him all of a sudden. I really loved Bailey so much. So I was a little disappointed towards the end of the book when the writer felt it necessary to give her a weird mental illness. It kind of came out of nowhere in my opinion and didn’t add anything to the story or the character at all. I also felt like it didn’t really fit with the character that I knew from previous books and then her own book in the beginning. To me, it seemed like she just had an age play kink and she didn’t need to go to a psychiatrist and get medicated for that. That whole part of the book just didn’t make any sense to be honest. The age kink I understood, but the rest was just really unnecessary. I did enjoy the book as a whole, and it was nice to see characters from the previous book that I liked a lot too.
OOOHHH MY GOD THIS IS WOORRRSSSTTT IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAAAY I can't choose i love both books so much :') BUT THIS BOOK MIGHT WIN IN THE SOBBING TEARS CATEGORY. The emotional roller coaster that i've been troough?! I was not okay ... I was sobbing like i was the one who's heart was broken :') But then i was not done processing that BANG a spice scene hit AND GOD WAS IT SPICYYY....
This book battles more about insecurities and mental health issues so i feel like it's a personal struggle between Bailey and Isiah. Where as The Guardian's Angel was more on the people around them type of problem. Soo yeaah both soo beautifully written. Where tbh i might saay His Relentless Angel is more kinky but again THEY'RE BOTH EQUALLY SPICYY!!!
If you're interested in reading His Relentless Angel definitely check out The Guardian's Angel first! SO WORTH IT!!
Book contains: - Age Gap (21 & 36) - Virgin FMC - Age Play - Her Fathers Best Friend - Breeding with Pregnancy - S💦💦ing - Size Difference - Spanking - Body Worship - Rejection - Second Chance - Mental Health Issues & Insecurities
May Alder is one of my favorite authors I've discovered, and after reading all of her backlist, I was so excited to get my eyeballs on this one.
I would recommend picking up book 1, His Guardian Angel, first not only because it is fantastic but because it will be spoiled a bit if you don't.
I am an age gap h0e, and stories like His Relentless Angel are one hundred percent the reason why.
Bailey decides at a young age that Isaiah is the man for her. Let me tell ya some of these book boyfriends should take notes from her about devotion 😆. Isaiah never thought of Bailey that way until.....well, I'll let you read that one for yourself.
These lovebirds are all the steamy, possessive, breedy goodness May Alder writes to perfection. Don't flirt with temptation as long as B and I did and start reading them ASAP.
I don’t know if you ever read these, but you are absolutely my favorite writer or at least one of them. You don’t have enough books. I absolutely love the trucker series. I love all your short stories backseat babies is my favorite. I always wish that there was more to that one and I absolutely love payback Penelope, but this book the whole angel series I adore so far I want more but this book is absolutely my favorite book and I don’t even know why I just absolutely adore it when I’m not feeling good. I read this book. I think I’ve read this book at least four times and I’ll tell you something. I read a lot of books. I must read 1000 books a year. I am not even kidding you I eat books up and I just love the way you write. I love the real love it. I love the characters but by far this is my favorite book that you brought me thank you so much.
I thought I would like it more, but there were things that irked me. Why would Isaiah want to make Bailey jealous with a girl on his lap simply because she was being ogled by other men? Why would he be so brutally harsh in that letter and shatter her heart for the umpteenth time? Why would he stay silent when his brother treated her like shit? I would have liked a bit more background story between them, but we basically only see her being obsessed while he treats her like crap to steer away her love for him. Since he's hell-bent on denying he was ever attracted to her before her 18th birthday and complained day in and day out with everybody before that, it seems like seeing her almost naked made him change his mind? I don't know, Bailey deserved better, imo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was my first by this author but won’t be my last. I was kinda blown away by this in the best way possible. The writing was everything I want in a novel. The characters felt real and fleshed out really well. The storyline takes place over a decade but never felt slow or dragging. The smut was smutting hard. That’s all I was expecting when I started this but I couldn’t put it down. The portrayal of mental illness was so well written and relatable. I was crying with the lows, smiling with the highs and rooting for these two hard! The Author’s note: respect.
Estuve en duda sobre cómo podría ser abordado el enamoramiento de Baylie y aquí obtuve mis respuesta con más detalle de lo que esperaba. Ella se enamora a los 13 años pero él con 28 no tiene esos pensamientos. Se convierte en un cortejo no deseado. Y claro, los maltratos venían por todos los frentes y creí que Baylie tenía una fortaleza imperturbable pero no fue así y mis lágrimas corrieron. Creo que por más que él le pueda decir en el presenta cuánto vales y cuánto te ama, la herida queda porque durante años se la tomó en serio. Fue muy doloroso verlo pero por suerte obtenemos el final feliz que deseamos. Lo más agradable es que te enteras más sobre los otros personajes en el futuro
4.5⭐️ What a treat!! I was in another horrible cycle of having a specific vibe of a book I wanted to read and not being able to find anything that appealed to me. It was bad I spent like 3 hours scrolling on goodreads and tiktok and Reddit looking for recommendations. But I found this!!! This kind of book is my kryptonite. My catnip. I think an age gap unrequited love duo is my favorite trope combination ever so obviously I had to pick this up. It had some nice angst in there too which I love with these tropes. I just couldn’t put this down!
I’m convinced that May can’t write a bad book! I love this series so much and I need them on paperback lol 😂 I loved Shayla and James but Bee and her boo Isaiah takes the cake! I love a girl obsessed and She was!
I love the mental health, and reassurance that happens between the main characters and how Isaiah protects Bailey
This one knocked it outta the park. I was hooked and I couldn’t put it down. I can’t stress enough that this one will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions and you feel for the FMC throughout the whole book but it also has times of laughter, joy, beautiful moments, and absolutely spicy moments. I can’t recommend this one enough!! You need to read it ASAP! I adore this book and May for writing such a masterpiece and my personal favorite ❤️
This book will make you laugh it'll make you cry and sometimes scream but the devotion both of these two have to each other and so hard that it was fought but then come together and at the end of the day love each other is amazing I do think the trigger warnings are like to be known before you read this but it's overall it was amazing
Age Gap Romance Over The Top MCs Unrequited Love Interracial Couple She's Obsessed Mental Health Mentioned Dads BFF/ Family Friend Spanking Role Play Daddy K!nk but make it spanish 🔥 HEA On KU
May Alder has become one of my favorite authors this year. Her books have given me a little escape from reality. If your looking for comfort and spice her books hit EVERY FREAKING TIME.
❤️ also like to recommend reading her Author Note on this book. Very refreshing seeing an author know her limitations when writing characters of color.