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St. Mary’s Rebels #4
Hey, Mister Marshall
At eighteen, Poe Blyton’s life is in shambles and the reason is Alaric Marshall.
After her mom’s death, he appeared out of nowhere and became Poe’s controlling guardian. When she protested his tyranny, he had the audacity to send her away to an all-girls reform school. A school full of iron clad rules and regulations.
But at least she’s graduating soon.
Until Alaric himself arrives at the school as the new principal and takes that away from her as well.
That devil.
He’s really asking for it, isn’t he?
And Poe is going to give it to him.
It doesn’t matter that her sworn enemy has the prettiest dark eyes she’s ever seen. Or that he looks really, really good in his boring tweed jackets. So much so that she wants to rip them off his body and see what’s underneath.
Because scorching hot or not, her new principal or not, Poe is going to ruin Alaric’s life.
NOTE - This is a STANDALONE set in the world of St. Mary's
St. Mary’s Rebels #4
After her mom’s death, he appeared out of nowhere and became Poe’s controlling guardian. When she protested his tyranny, he had the audacity to send her away to an all-girls reform school. A school full of iron clad rules and regulations.
But at least she’s graduating soon.
Until Alaric himself arrives at the school as the new principal and takes that away from her as well.
That devil.
He’s really asking for it, isn’t he?
And Poe is going to give it to him.
It doesn’t matter that her sworn enemy has the prettiest dark eyes she’s ever seen. Or that he looks really, really good in his boring tweed jackets. So much so that she wants to rip them off his body and see what’s underneath.
Because scorching hot or not, her new principal or not, Poe is going to ruin Alaric’s life.
NOTE - This is a STANDALONE set in the world of St. Mary's
St. Mary’s Rebels #4
638 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2022
479 people are currently reading
6071 people want to read
About the author
Saffron A. Kent
35 books6,304 followersSaffron A. Kent is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Contemporary and New Adult romance. She writes dark, forbidden, and emotional romance that blurs the line between love and obsession. Her books feature burn that hurts, the broken boy who shouldn’t be touched, the girl who can’t stay away, and the secret that could destroy them both. She's known for her poetic prose and romance that delivers both beautiful destruction and the promise of being remade by love that should never have happened.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 673 reviews
June 15, 2022
This should have been 638 pages shorter...which doesn't mean to say the book should not exist. But it does
June 15, 2022
expectation: i hope mr. marshall turns out to be the daddiest of them all :)
reality: *crickets chirping*
.
.
.
1.5 star it is 😭️
reality: *crickets chirping*
.
.
.
1.5 star it is 😭️
December 12, 2023
*my alaric-obsessed state of mind*
alaric rule marshall can have me, my mind, my body, my soul, my lungs, my bones, my hair, my tits, my ass… everything.
songs : problem with you ⋆ sabrina claudio
stargirl interlude ⋆ the weeknd, lana del rey
alaric rule marshall can have me, my mind, my body, my soul, my lungs, my bones, my hair, my tits, my ass… everything.
songs : problem with you ⋆ sabrina claudio
stargirl interlude ⋆ the weeknd, lana del rey
June 17, 2022
Seriously, this was my most anticipated book of the series. It’s everything I love, from the forbidden age gap to the feisty heroine. But the execution left much to be desired.
Good God, when did she become so long winded and redundant?! Take a word of advice from K Webster; you don’t need to write long books!
I don’t mind the flowery language, prose, anything along those lines. But I feel like SAK was stretching at this point. Instead of doing that she just kept saying the same thing in different ways.
This was certainly a slow burn and by the time we actually got to the sex that too was ridiculously drawn out and repetitive. I kid you not, I fell asleep three times trying to read that scene.
Also I have to say how immature I’ve found all these men in this series. It’s especially jarring to find it in Alaric and Conrad due to age. But the way they talk, act, it’s like watching a teen drama. A girl teen drama.
On a high note, I did enjoy the chemistry between them. I loved how protective he was, how growly and bossy. I even enjoyed the animosity between them.
I also liked both character’s back story and how they mirrored each other. The fact that they both lacked love and how painful Alaric’s past was especially.
The last 15-20% was a bit of an improvement. Added drama helped relieve some of the redundancy.
At the end of the day it was a sweet story that could’ve been condensed to 200-300 pages. Seriously, it’s like men with big trucks. What are you trying to compensate for?
Good God, when did she become so long winded and redundant?! Take a word of advice from K Webster; you don’t need to write long books!
I don’t mind the flowery language, prose, anything along those lines. But I feel like SAK was stretching at this point. Instead of doing that she just kept saying the same thing in different ways.
This was certainly a slow burn and by the time we actually got to the sex that too was ridiculously drawn out and repetitive. I kid you not, I fell asleep three times trying to read that scene.
Also I have to say how immature I’ve found all these men in this series. It’s especially jarring to find it in Alaric and Conrad due to age. But the way they talk, act, it’s like watching a teen drama. A girl teen drama.
On a high note, I did enjoy the chemistry between them. I loved how protective he was, how growly and bossy. I even enjoyed the animosity between them.
I also liked both character’s back story and how they mirrored each other. The fact that they both lacked love and how painful Alaric’s past was especially.
The last 15-20% was a bit of an improvement. Added drama helped relieve some of the redundancy.
At the end of the day it was a sweet story that could’ve been condensed to 200-300 pages. Seriously, it’s like men with big trucks. What are you trying to compensate for?
January 8, 2024
Not me over here highlighting half this book. 😅🤡
I am an unabashed lover of SAK's books. I love the stoic authoritative reluctant possessive heros. 😍 I love the sweet impetuous girls who run headlong into love for those tortured men. 😍 This ish is my JAM, and Saffron has my number. 🤷🏼♀️😅 Her poetic writing style is fun for me to read. Her dirty talk is my favorite... it's over the top and DIR-TAY... it always makes you tilt your head and wonder if you read that right 🤣🤣.... In my opinion, that's exactly how it should be. It aint dirty enough if it doesn't make you a little uncomfortable and maybe little giggly. 🙃 I adore when the calm cool collected hero loses his ever loving mind with his h and babbles out fever dream nonsense, completely out of character. 😅🤣
I luuuuuurrrve it. 🤷🏼♀️
And this book delivers all the stuff I love:
💜 Poe, 18 - she's bratty and loyal and rebellious and determined and vulnerable and fearless when it comes to love 💘
💜 Alaric (AKA: Mr. Marshall), 35 - he's got it all under control, except when it comes to the h, then he's all jealous/possessive/protective and maybe a little underhanded and obsessive, with a filthy mouth ❤️🔥
💜 This book starts 4 years earlier, when Poe is 14 and I loved how SAK depicted her at that age. I actually have a 14 yr old daughter and I felt like her maturity level was spot on. I love it when authors get the characters actions and thoughts right for their ages 👍🏻
💜 Alaric so deliciously jealous/possessive - he has been cockblocking for 3 years, since he found out about Poe's loser druggy boyfriend - he's all narrowed eyes and jaw ticks (my personal weakness) *SWOOOOON* 😍🤩😍🤩😍
💜 we even get a scene where he drags her out of a bar and loses his mind over the clothes she wore to see her boyfriend
💜 at one point he gets all jealous when Poe tells a story about a time a celebrity she was crushing on TOUCHED HER HAND 👀😳😅
💜 very light daddy kink - 👀 the word is used 3 times, so settle down 🤣... but it was a first for SAK, and I didn't hate it. 🤷🏼♀️
💜 He calls her "baby" 🥰🥰🥰
💜 at the end of the day, despite their attempts to put up a cool front, both of these characters have tortured backgrounds... and I loved that they saw that in each other and were able to heal those wounds - I thought their story was one of the sweetest SAK has written. 🥺🥺
💜 I love that we got some delicious OM (and a small amount of OW) drama without either character actually being intimate with anyone else 💕💕💕
💜 like TTK, we don't *REALLY* get a grovel... this hero never actually does anything to warrant that - most of their drama is about the past
💜 I loved how bratty Poe was, and how Alaric was so here for it. 🤩
💜 Alaric insists on claiming Poe in all the ways. 🥵🥵🔥🔥
💜 this had sexual tension for daaaayzz... there is a scene at 40% that had me absolutely panting. I had to take breaks to swoon to my friends... SAK manages to make THEIR SHOES TOUCHING sexxy... that is why I love her books. I'd take her smexxual tension over the dirtiest of sex scenes... it's just so good. This is a bit of a slow burn (full meal at 68%) but like usual, I didn’t miss it with all the non-sex smexxy scenes. 🤷🏼♀️🙃🔥🔥🔥🔥
💜 we get quite a bit of past characters in this book. It has a nice epilogue where we see the cute couples being really cute. It was a good send-off to the St. Mary's series. 💕
Anything I didn't like?
🤷🏼♀️ I am not a fan of the word "snatch" in relation to a woman's lady bidness 😬... it's just not sexy to me... it's used 4 times in the dirty talk (so, not a huge amount), and I wasn't a fan... normally the OTT dirty talk doesn't phase me, but I just found this word choice jarring
🤷🏼♀️ I wish the OW drama had been milked more 🤡 and that we'd gotten some kind of explanation... I felt like it was left hanging...
🤷🏼♀️ This hero was brutally bullied as kid (both at school and by his father), he’s since grown into a man who can’t be bullied, he’s made himself physically into quite the specimen and he’s a successful respected academic, and now people find him intimidating…. but his struggle to move past what happened to him as a kid *almost* made him more vulnerable than I prefer. He had some great j/p moments, and I think he was way stronger than he acknowledged (Poe saw it 🥺)… but I found him harder to fully engage with than past heros. So, the angst didn’t hit me as hard as it should have.
🤷🏼♀️ Normally I can depend on SAK to use the hero’s point of view to drop some bombs of pertinent insight that has me gasping or crying or swooning … but I didn’t feel that as much in this one. I didn’t dislike Alaric’s POV, but it didn’t have the punch that I’ve grown accustomed to from an SAK read.
Bottom Line? I loved this book. 😍 SAK makes me swoon. I loved this couple. I loved how sweet and vulnerable they were together. I loved that they both wanted the best for the other and were irate, for each other, over the mistreatment in their past. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - a woman is after the H, but he doesn't seem interested at all and eventually tells her to get lost - he is not intimate with her
- OM drama - h has a boyfriend she thinks she's in love with - the H is not having it
- no dubcon
- condoms used - h convinces him to do it without a condom once but he pulls out... he wants to protect her future - they discuss it
- h is a 19 year old virgin - this is sort of a surprise since she's had a boyfriend for 3 years
- H is a 35 experienced man, he is not described as a manwhore, and has been celibate since he's been back in the country and seen the h all grown up (and knows he's attracted to her)
- H has a history with the h's mother, but they were never intimate or in love
I am an unabashed lover of SAK's books. I love the stoic authoritative reluctant possessive heros. 😍 I love the sweet impetuous girls who run headlong into love for those tortured men. 😍 This ish is my JAM, and Saffron has my number. 🤷🏼♀️😅 Her poetic writing style is fun for me to read. Her dirty talk is my favorite... it's over the top and DIR-TAY... it always makes you tilt your head and wonder if you read that right 🤣🤣.... In my opinion, that's exactly how it should be. It aint dirty enough if it doesn't make you a little uncomfortable and maybe little giggly. 🙃 I adore when the calm cool collected hero loses his ever loving mind with his h and babbles out fever dream nonsense, completely out of character. 😅🤣
I luuuuuurrrve it. 🤷🏼♀️
And this book delivers all the stuff I love:
💜 Poe, 18 - she's bratty and loyal and rebellious and determined and vulnerable and fearless when it comes to love 💘
💜 Alaric (AKA: Mr. Marshall), 35 - he's got it all under control, except when it comes to the h, then he's all jealous/possessive/protective and maybe a little underhanded and obsessive, with a filthy mouth ❤️🔥
💜 This book starts 4 years earlier, when Poe is 14 and I loved how SAK depicted her at that age. I actually have a 14 yr old daughter and I felt like her maturity level was spot on. I love it when authors get the characters actions and thoughts right for their ages 👍🏻
💜 Alaric so deliciously jealous/possessive - he has been cockblocking for 3 years, since he found out about Poe's loser druggy boyfriend - he's all narrowed eyes and jaw ticks (my personal weakness) *SWOOOOON* 😍🤩😍🤩😍
💜 we even get a scene where he drags her out of a bar and loses his mind over the clothes she wore to see her boyfriend
💜 at one point he gets all jealous when Poe tells a story about a time a celebrity she was crushing on TOUCHED HER HAND 👀😳😅
💜 very light daddy kink - 👀 the word is used 3 times, so settle down 🤣... but it was a first for SAK, and I didn't hate it. 🤷🏼♀️
💜 He calls her "baby" 🥰🥰🥰
💜 at the end of the day, despite their attempts to put up a cool front, both of these characters have tortured backgrounds... and I loved that they saw that in each other and were able to heal those wounds - I thought their story was one of the sweetest SAK has written. 🥺🥺
💜 I love that we got some delicious OM (and a small amount of OW) drama without either character actually being intimate with anyone else 💕💕💕
💜 like TTK, we don't *REALLY* get a grovel... this hero never actually does anything to warrant that - most of their drama is about the past
💜 I loved how bratty Poe was, and how Alaric was so here for it. 🤩
💜 Alaric insists on claiming Poe in all the ways. 🥵🥵🔥🔥
💜 this had sexual tension for daaaayzz... there is a scene at 40% that had me absolutely panting. I had to take breaks to swoon to my friends... SAK manages to make THEIR SHOES TOUCHING sexxy... that is why I love her books. I'd take her smexxual tension over the dirtiest of sex scenes... it's just so good. This is a bit of a slow burn (full meal at 68%) but like usual, I didn’t miss it with all the non-sex smexxy scenes. 🤷🏼♀️🙃🔥🔥🔥🔥
💜 we get quite a bit of past characters in this book. It has a nice epilogue where we see the cute couples being really cute. It was a good send-off to the St. Mary's series. 💕
Anything I didn't like?
🤷🏼♀️ I am not a fan of the word "snatch" in relation to a woman's lady bidness 😬... it's just not sexy to me... it's used 4 times in the dirty talk (so, not a huge amount), and I wasn't a fan... normally the OTT dirty talk doesn't phase me, but I just found this word choice jarring
🤷🏼♀️ I wish the OW drama had been milked more 🤡 and that we'd gotten some kind of explanation... I felt like it was left hanging...
🤷🏼♀️ This hero was brutally bullied as kid (both at school and by his father), he’s since grown into a man who can’t be bullied, he’s made himself physically into quite the specimen and he’s a successful respected academic, and now people find him intimidating…. but his struggle to move past what happened to him as a kid *almost* made him more vulnerable than I prefer. He had some great j/p moments, and I think he was way stronger than he acknowledged (Poe saw it 🥺)… but I found him harder to fully engage with than past heros. So, the angst didn’t hit me as hard as it should have.
🤷🏼♀️ Normally I can depend on SAK to use the hero’s point of view to drop some bombs of pertinent insight that has me gasping or crying or swooning … but I didn’t feel that as much in this one. I didn’t dislike Alaric’s POV, but it didn’t have the punch that I’ve grown accustomed to from an SAK read.
Bottom Line? I loved this book. 😍 SAK makes me swoon. I loved this couple. I loved how sweet and vulnerable they were together. I loved that they both wanted the best for the other and were irate, for each other, over the mistreatment in their past. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - a woman is after the H, but he doesn't seem interested at all and eventually tells her to get lost - he is not intimate with her
- OM drama - h has a boyfriend she thinks she's in love with - the H is not having it
- no dubcon
- condoms used - h convinces him to do it without a condom once but he pulls out... he wants to protect her future - they discuss it
- h is a 19 year old virgin - this is sort of a surprise since she's had a boyfriend for 3 years
- H is a 35 experienced man, he is not described as a manwhore, and has been celibate since he's been back in the country and seen the h all grown up (and knows he's attracted to her)
- H has a history with the h's mother, but they were never intimate or in love
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2022
i asked for a simple dream in my review of, these thorn kisses:
what i wanted was simple. i wanted saffron to go full-throttle. i wanted her to throw everything at the wall. i wanted everything and the kitchen sink.
simply put, i went in expecting alaric say that poe had a, cherry-pie, tiny-dragon, wild child, purple-durple, whore-virigin pussy.
instead, i got this:
my king, my heart, my love, reed roman jackson, would never be so unoriginal ✋😌
𝗦𝗧. 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬'𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗦
⚽️ 𝗠𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 - 𝟯
🧚♀️ 𝗔 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 - 𝟮.𝟳𝟱
🌼 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 - 𝟮.𝟱
💋 𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 - 𝟮.𝟮𝟱
‹ i want hey, mr marshall to feel like a true literary acid-trip ›
what i wanted was simple. i wanted saffron to go full-throttle. i wanted her to throw everything at the wall. i wanted everything and the kitchen sink.
simply put, i went in expecting alaric say that poe had a, cherry-pie, tiny-dragon, wild child, purple-durple, whore-virigin pussy.
instead, i got this:
« i’m always so torn between your cherry pie mouth and your cherry pie snatch »
my king, my heart, my love, reed roman jackson, would never be so unoriginal ✋😌
𝗦𝗧. 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬'𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗦
⚽️ 𝗠𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 - 𝟯
🧚♀️ 𝗔 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 - 𝟮.𝟳𝟱
🌼 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 - 𝟮.𝟱
💋 𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 - 𝟮.𝟮𝟱
August 12, 2024
➵
5 stars
✰
imnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokay — what. the. fuck. 😭❤️🩹🦋🥺🫠😩
i don't think i will ever be okay after reading this book. why do i see so many low ratings for this? i thought it was fucking amazing. saffron's writing is definitely an acquired taste and i do agree that the dirty talk she writes can be cringey but it's really not that bad. it could be a lot worse. and yes — the dialogue and inner monologues can be too long and repetitive, but do i care? hell no. how can i not like this book when they are both so helplessly in love and obsessed with each other?
my heart hurt for alaric and poe and they deserved those page long dialogues they said to each other, okay? alaric deserved to be told non stop that he's loved wholeheartedly by poe and that she will be there to show him how worthy he is of it everyday. that she’s his biggest supporter and will always be there to help him fight his demons. and poe, she deserved to be told by alaric how much he worships her, about how sorry he was for the way he treated her in the past, and how he's constantly needy and desperate for her every second of the day, and that he will always support her dreams 🥺🦋 saffron is known for her long ass paragraphs, and they can seem unnecessary but not to me — well at least not in this book because they needed those reassurances and i was living for it.
alaric is my dream mmc and poe is my dream fmc. i could have not asked for two better main characters. i love how saffron writes her fmcs. they are never afraid to take risks and they always lead with their heart, even knowing that it could really come back to hurt them. i always admire her characters because they always follow their heart and make decisions that i would have a hard time doing. i just love how they become so accepting of their feelings and they just take it and go for it. idk, i just love how courageous and brave these women are. that's how poe was. i adored her spirit and how she always fought and held her ground. she also really served girl obsessed. in books, i need both parties to be giving the same energy and it's really rare when they do. which is why i read saffron's books because i know she will give it to me. poe was so fucking possessive and protective over alaric it was — 😍 she was not afraid to claim her man. she was so mature for her age and helped alaric in so many ways even though he is 17 years older than her.
now for my poor baby alaric. i understood all his actions. i understand why he did what he did even though it hurt poe. i forgave him 2 seconds after he did those things. his back story was heartbreaking and he was cold and emotionless because of it. i could not bring myself to be mad at him in anyway once i started seeing the other side of things. what he did was obviously not justified — but imo, he makes up for it. plus his obsession with poe was present from the beginning, so i'm not ashamed to say i loved him from the first page. the things he did for her? to protect her? the way he spoiled her? the look at her and die? the way he was so consumed by his feelings for her that during his every living second he was thinking of her? oh my god. yall. it was so good. he was DESPERATE as fuck for her. at times i thought he was going to combust in her presence. i have never been so jealous of a fmc before. it literally felt like he would have died if he didn't have her. he would do anything she asked of him, the neediness was GIVING 🤌🦋🧎♀️
the OM drama. i would normally hate this if it was any other case than this book. poe has a 'boyfriend', jimmy, who she is "in love" with. big emphasis on the quotations. it's very obvious from the beginning that she is really obsessed with alaric even though she is supposedly in love with jimmy. she talks about how beautiful alaric is for 3 pages straight and then is like "i love jimmy so much." it was honestly laughable how she thought she loved that guy, i was eating it up. i love delulu characters. even she laughed about it later 🤣 but what really got me good, was just how tortured alaric was over poe being in love with someone else. this man was plain murderous. i was genuinely scared for jimmy's life. the angst it brought to the story was perfection. i never thought i'd say om drama was deliciously good, but wow, was it ever.
i can't express enough the amount of swooning that happened during this book. it knocked me off my feet. i simply could not handle the force of alaricpoe. the pure genuine obsessive love they had for each other. THE THINGS THEY DID FOR EACH OTHER YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. the angst, the slow burn, the age gap, the true enemies to lovers (one sided from poe), the double possessiveness, and a sprinkle of daddy kink. this is not just student/teacher, it's principle/student plus guardian/ward. this book has everything. the cameos of the other couples? the found family? alaric and conrad's friendship? 😭 don’t even get me started. i am not okay. i'm going to need 10490257 days to recover, thank you.
songs & vibes
🎵 say yes to heaven - lana del rey
🎵 older - isabel larosa
🎵 stay - ari abdul
🎵 no good - asal
🎵 bad idea - chris grey
🎵 keep on loving you - cigarettes after sex
🎵 who is he - plaza
🎵 professional - the weeknd
🎵 i wanna be yours - arctic monkeys
🎵 the beach - the neighbourhood
🎵 half of my heart - josh makazo
🎵 teacher's pet - melanie martinez
St. Mary's Rebels
⁀➷ 0. bad boy blues, tbr
⁀➷ 1. my darling arrow, tbr
⁀➷ 2. my gorgeous villain, 5 stars ✰
⁀➷ 3. these thorn kisses, 4 stars ✰
⁀➷ 4. hey, mister marshall, 5 stars ✰
⁀➷ 5. the hatesick diaries, 3 stars ✰
“You’re my soulmate, Alaric. Your soul matches mine. Your heart matches mine. Your story matches mine. We were both unloved, see. We were both alone.”
He holds his silence for a couple of seconds, his eyes roving over my features, before he whispers, “Not anymore though.”
“Not anymore.”
“Because you love me.”
“I love you,” I say, still miffed. “And you love me.”
With solemn eyes, he says, “I love you.”
imnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokayimnotokay — what. the. fuck. 😭❤️🩹🦋🥺🫠😩
i don't think i will ever be okay after reading this book. why do i see so many low ratings for this? i thought it was fucking amazing. saffron's writing is definitely an acquired taste and i do agree that the dirty talk she writes can be cringey but it's really not that bad. it could be a lot worse. and yes — the dialogue and inner monologues can be too long and repetitive, but do i care? hell no. how can i not like this book when they are both so helplessly in love and obsessed with each other?
my heart hurt for alaric and poe and they deserved those page long dialogues they said to each other, okay? alaric deserved to be told non stop that he's loved wholeheartedly by poe and that she will be there to show him how worthy he is of it everyday. that she’s his biggest supporter and will always be there to help him fight his demons. and poe, she deserved to be told by alaric how much he worships her, about how sorry he was for the way he treated her in the past, and how he's constantly needy and desperate for her every second of the day, and that he will always support her dreams 🥺🦋 saffron is known for her long ass paragraphs, and they can seem unnecessary but not to me — well at least not in this book because they needed those reassurances and i was living for it.
alaric is my dream mmc and poe is my dream fmc. i could have not asked for two better main characters. i love how saffron writes her fmcs. they are never afraid to take risks and they always lead with their heart, even knowing that it could really come back to hurt them. i always admire her characters because they always follow their heart and make decisions that i would have a hard time doing. i just love how they become so accepting of their feelings and they just take it and go for it. idk, i just love how courageous and brave these women are. that's how poe was. i adored her spirit and how she always fought and held her ground. she also really served girl obsessed. in books, i need both parties to be giving the same energy and it's really rare when they do. which is why i read saffron's books because i know she will give it to me. poe was so fucking possessive and protective over alaric it was — 😍 she was not afraid to claim her man. she was so mature for her age and helped alaric in so many ways even though he is 17 years older than her.
now for my poor baby alaric. i understood all his actions. i understand why he did what he did even though it hurt poe. i forgave him 2 seconds after he did those things. his back story was heartbreaking and he was cold and emotionless because of it. i could not bring myself to be mad at him in anyway once i started seeing the other side of things. what he did was obviously not justified — but imo, he makes up for it. plus his obsession with poe was present from the beginning, so i'm not ashamed to say i loved him from the first page. the things he did for her? to protect her? the way he spoiled her? the look at her and die? the way he was so consumed by his feelings for her that during his every living second he was thinking of her? oh my god. yall. it was so good. he was DESPERATE as fuck for her. at times i thought he was going to combust in her presence. i have never been so jealous of a fmc before. it literally felt like he would have died if he didn't have her. he would do anything she asked of him, the neediness was GIVING 🤌🦋🧎♀️
the OM drama. i would normally hate this if it was any other case than this book. poe has a 'boyfriend', jimmy, who she is "in love" with. big emphasis on the quotations. it's very obvious from the beginning that she is really obsessed with alaric even though she is supposedly in love with jimmy. she talks about how beautiful alaric is for 3 pages straight and then is like "i love jimmy so much." it was honestly laughable how she thought she loved that guy, i was eating it up. i love delulu characters. even she laughed about it later 🤣 but what really got me good, was just how tortured alaric was over poe being in love with someone else. this man was plain murderous. i was genuinely scared for jimmy's life. the angst it brought to the story was perfection. i never thought i'd say om drama was deliciously good, but wow, was it ever.
i can't express enough the amount of swooning that happened during this book. it knocked me off my feet. i simply could not handle the force of alaricpoe. the pure genuine obsessive love they had for each other. THE THINGS THEY DID FOR EACH OTHER YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. the angst, the slow burn, the age gap, the true enemies to lovers (one sided from poe), the double possessiveness, and a sprinkle of daddy kink. this is not just student/teacher, it's principle/student plus guardian/ward. this book has everything. the cameos of the other couples? the found family? alaric and conrad's friendship? 😭 don’t even get me started. i am not okay. i'm going to need 10490257 days to recover, thank you.
songs & vibes
🎵 say yes to heaven - lana del rey
🎵 older - isabel larosa
🎵 stay - ari abdul
🎵 no good - asal
🎵 bad idea - chris grey
🎵 keep on loving you - cigarettes after sex
🎵 who is he - plaza
🎵 professional - the weeknd
🎵 i wanna be yours - arctic monkeys
🎵 the beach - the neighbourhood
🎵 half of my heart - josh makazo
🎵 teacher's pet - melanie martinez
St. Mary's Rebels
⁀➷ 0. bad boy blues, tbr
⁀➷ 1. my darling arrow, tbr
⁀➷ 2. my gorgeous villain, 5 stars ✰
⁀➷ 3. these thorn kisses, 4 stars ✰
⁀➷ 4. hey, mister marshall, 5 stars ✰
⁀➷ 5. the hatesick diaries, 3 stars ✰
June 21, 2022
4🌟
~ Review coming soon ~
~ Review coming soon ~
Want to read
May 15, 2021this is the st. mary's rebels book i'm anticipating the most for sure. saffron kent posted a teaser in her group of the girls talking and poe mentions how much she hates her guardian and how she "accidentally" gave him food poisoning and set his clothes on fire.
the potential tropes here are SO good
» enemies to lovers
» guardian/ward
» age gap
the potential tropes here are SO good
» enemies to lovers
» guardian/ward
» age gap
June 15, 2022
Ok but how many more times am I gonna have to apologize to Salem and Arrow for believing that they were the worst, when in fact they were the ONLY saving grace of this entire series? I wanna be clear and state that this is a "it's not the book, it's me" situation for the most part, but also a "it's definitely the book, and NOT me, ma'am please put the pen down!!".
My personal lesson that I got out of this is that maybe big age gaps between teenagers andgrown adults are not my thing, it doesn't do it for me, it's not my cup of tea, it's not my jam, HARD. PASS. The same thing happened to me with
These Thorn Kisses
, making me feel uncomfortable all the time to the point of not finishing the book, so that's totally on me!! BUT the writing sometimes weird and kinda on the predatory side is a point in my discomfort too, and not only the fact that I don't understand what they may have in common, again, a teenager almost out of high school and an adult with two PhD and what else... Like, I can get the POV of the girl wanting to get the attention of someone older, especially Poe's, but not the reasons for a fully funcional adult to fall for it.
Now why was the book too... first of all, there was no need to make this so thick if you were just going to repeat the same nonsense over and over again; how she felt, how he looked, how he dressed with precise detail of the material of his clothes, how EVERYTHING smelled like leather and cigarettes... I GOT IT! I know I'm slow, but don't overdo it either. There's also the writing with that "poetic touch" that she always tries to give, but honestly it only worked for me in the first book, and then it got ridiculous and tiring because after all it's just teenagers saying and thinking those things, and it just made me think about how pathetic and self-centered we all probably were at that stage of our lives, and if I rolled my eyes a little harder I'd already be able to see my own brain.
And the worst part... well, actually it was two things for me. 1) Where's Poe Blyton? The one from the previous books? that girl was really badass and full of mischief in the other installments, but here that personality disappeared and she was just another Callie, Salem and Wynn, with the same whining as the previous characters and this obsessive and excessive love coming out of nowhere because they barely spoke, like really talk, throughout the book. And 2) The daddy and baby thing... NOPE. It's just that I can get the kink, okay? but here it was just weird because he has known her since she was 14 years old?? back to the uncomfortable point... and the whole way those terms were phrased, mixed in with the writing and + the smutty scenes...sorry, but what the hell did she do here? I had so much faith in this!! Mostly faith in Poe's character if I'm being honest because the male characters in this series are a bit meh to me, but Mr. Marshall... go get yourself checked out and never go near an educational establishment again, thank you.
My personal lesson that I got out of this is that maybe big age gaps between teenagers and
Now why was the book too... first of all, there was no need to make this so thick if you were just going to repeat the same nonsense over and over again; how she felt, how he looked, how he dressed with precise detail of the material of his clothes, how EVERYTHING smelled like leather and cigarettes... I GOT IT! I know I'm slow, but don't overdo it either. There's also the writing with that "poetic touch" that she always tries to give, but honestly it only worked for me in the first book, and then it got ridiculous and tiring because after all it's just teenagers saying and thinking those things, and it just made me think about how pathetic and self-centered we all probably were at that stage of our lives, and if I rolled my eyes a little harder I'd already be able to see my own brain.
And the worst part... well, actually it was two things for me. 1) Where's Poe Blyton? The one from the previous books? that girl was really badass and full of mischief in the other installments, but here that personality disappeared and she was just another Callie, Salem and Wynn, with the same whining as the previous characters and this obsessive and excessive love coming out of nowhere because they barely spoke, like really talk, throughout the book. And 2) The daddy and baby thing... NOPE. It's just that I can get the kink, okay? but here it was just weird because he has known her since she was 14 years old?? back to the uncomfortable point... and the whole way those terms were phrased, mixed in with the writing and + the smutty scenes...sorry, but what the hell did she do here? I had so much faith in this!! Mostly faith in Poe's character if I'm being honest because the male characters in this series are a bit meh to me, but Mr. Marshall... go get yourself checked out and never go near an educational establishment again, thank you.
June 15, 2022
1-💫
You know how the saying goes save the best for last… unfortunately Poe dear and mr Marshall was indeed the the most repetitive boring cherry pie nonsense I’ve read in the st Mary’s series
I can’t believe I live in a world where Wynn and Connie are my fav with Callie & reed being a close second
You know how the saying goes save the best for last… unfortunately Poe dear and mr Marshall was indeed the the most repetitive boring cherry pie nonsense I’ve read in the st Mary’s series
I can’t believe I live in a world where Wynn and Connie are my fav with Callie & reed being a close second
Read
June 9, 2022I cant wait for my what I expect to be my favorite couple! Winter is coming and I cant wait to meet my new daddy, Alaric Marshall.
my favorite taboo trope is alive friends.
guardian and ward
Cover revel tomorrow so we can fantasize about him
Its almost time! Please be good!!!!
my favorite taboo trope is alive friends.
guardian and ward
Cover revel tomorrow so we can fantasize about him
Its almost time! Please be good!!!!
July 27, 2022
No sé porque sigo leyendo estos libros, no hay una explicación lógica.
Son
Trashy
Tóxicos
Con un montón de Red Flags
No voy a negar que más del 70% estuvo entretenido pese a que es un age gap que a mí no me gustan, pero algo tiene esta autora no me causan issues.
Pero ya al final estaba ya que se acabe, está demasiado largo y los diálogos no ayudan ese patrón de repetir lo que dice el otro me cansó, que se aventaran los mega speech nomás para decir algo cansó, que en una frase ella estuviera repitiendo su nombre como 5 veces cansó en pocas palabras los diálogos me daban CRINGE.
Que si seguiré leyendo el spin off CLARO QUE YES porque masoquista soy .
Son
Trashy
Tóxicos
Con un montón de Red Flags
No voy a negar que más del 70% estuvo entretenido pese a que es un age gap que a mí no me gustan, pero algo tiene esta autora no me causan issues.
Pero ya al final estaba ya que se acabe, está demasiado largo y los diálogos no ayudan ese patrón de repetir lo que dice el otro me cansó, que se aventaran los mega speech nomás para decir algo cansó, que en una frase ella estuviera repitiendo su nombre como 5 veces cansó en pocas palabras los diálogos me daban CRINGE.
Que si seguiré leyendo el spin off CLARO QUE YES porque masoquista soy .
July 2, 2022
Least favorite book in this series, but kudos to sak for not forgetting to describe poe vagina as cherry pie p***y, anyway guess what I'm never eating again... Yeah Cherry pie
June 15, 2022
2/5
Word Count
Guardian - 111
Devil - 54
Okay so the two stars are only for Alaric. This book had an amazing background story for both the characters but the plot went flat for me.
SPOILERS AHEAD
plot
Poe’s mother passed away when she was just 14 years old. As per her mothers will Poe went under the custody of her grandparents family friend Mr. Theodore Marshall but since he wasn’t capable of taking care of her, she went into the care for Theodor’s son Alaric Rule Marshall.
When she first arrived at Alarics house, he didn’t speak to her at all during the first week which led her to believe that he hates her and doesn’t want anything to do with her, just like her famous mother which was the reason why she had a reputation of being a rebel child.
All she ever wanted was to be loved by someone, but her mother just never cared enough for her and made sure Poe was aware about it as well.
And now she was under the care of someone who also didn’t want anything to do with her so she decided to make a run for it but was stopped by Alaric when he finally spoke to her and made sure that she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. After that Poe swore to make is life miserable until he lets leave.
At 15, Poe gets caught with a boy named Jimmy, a school dropout at 17, who was Poe’s first love and that was the last straw for Alaric and he sent her away to St Mary’s.
Now at 18 she finally had the chance to graduate, get some of the money her mom had left for her and officially no longer need Alaric as her guardian, but Alaric again ruins her chances of freedom and makes her take summer school in order to graduate.
Because graduation and my friends aren’t the only thing he’s taken away from me, has he? He’s taken away something else too. Someone else. He’s taken away the love of my life.
Poe becomes even more desperate now to get her trust fund money and move to New York because her “first love” Jimmy is going on tour and asked her to join him. She tries everything in order to get Alaric to let her graduate early and leave, even as far as trying to seduce him to kiss her so that she can blackmail him but he is always one step ahead of her.
That is until Alaric realizes that he has been unfair on Poe by punishing her for something she hasn’t even done. He also can’t help but notice that she has grown up into a beautiful girl, nothing like her mother.
When I look at her, I see her. I see someone who went from being a fourteen-year-old burden that I couldn’t look at to an eighteen-year-old girl that I can’t look away from.
Issues
This book had potential, a lot of it. Both the main leads had amazing sob worthy background stories. I even did almost cry when Poe was telling Alaric about her bitch of a mother. But that just wasn’t enough to save this book.
First issue is the relationship development between the characters. Personally for me, it wasn’t smooth at all. Like one minute Poe is Planning to blackmail Alaric so she that she can get an early graduation and go with Jimmy to his tour and the next minute is smelling Alarics throat because she always wondered what he smelled like. You ate swearing up and down that you hate this man but when he shows a little attention you melt?
I get that she just wanted someone to love her and that’s why she thought she was in love with Jimmy and wanted to be with him and now that she was getting attention from Alaric she went fro hate to love real quick. But like take one step at a time please. You are supposed to be a “badass”.
“Yes. Because I’ve always wondered about your throat.”
“You’ve always wondered about my throat.”
“Yes. How it smells.”
“How it smells.”
“Yeah. If your scent is thicker here. Your scent of leather and cigar smoke.”
“My scent of leather and cigar smoke.
Yes they have a thing where they both love repeating what the other person has said. It was cute at first but then it got annoying.
Second issue is Poe, at first I excused her behavior and the way she spoke because of her age but then I just couldn’t take it anymore. After the 52% mark I started skipping.
So I skipped from chapter 23 to 30. When the chapter started I was really happy because I got to know they had sex for the first time, the chapter before and I was glad my eyes didn’t have to read that because I came to the conclusion after reading about “fairy pussy”, Saffron’s smut is not for me anymore, no matter how much I love her characters and plot. So anyway I just started chapter 30, thanking my lucky stars and then I read this
“Alaric?” His chest vibrated with a deep hum.
“Poe.”
“I feel it.”
“Ignore it.” I squirmed, rubbing my back against it.
“I can’t. He’s my friend.”
“What?” I turned around to look up at him again.
“What, are you saying he’s not my friend?” I frowned. “I hate to break it to you, Alaric, but your dick is my friend. He made me feel good. And people who make you feel good are your friends.”
This automatically resulted to me opening the index and skipping to chapter 35
“And it was you who taught me not to run after things, not to be desperate enough to chase after things and people. So what I did today, I’m sorry for that. I let you down. I let myself down. What I did back there was wrong. I almost turned something pure, something so fragile and soft and sweet like my love for you, into something dirty. And I’m not an expert in love — God, I’m not — but I do think that love shouldn’t be selfish. I do think that love shouldn’t be destruction but the building of things. Love shouldn’t be toxic but life-giving. And love definitely isn’t what I almost did for Jimmy with the whole camera thing, it’s what I want to do for you. And what I want to do is to give you this secret, okay? I want you to put it in your pocket and tuck it in your heart. This secret that there’s someone out there who loves you. That there’s a girl out there, in this world, who’s in love with you, Alaric. And she pines for you and longs for you and dreams about you. She thinks that you’re the most beautiful man that she’s ever seen. The most intelligent and complex and infuriating and endearing man. She loves your leather-bound books and your tweed jackets and your silver ring. She loves that you’re a history nerd and that you basically know everything there is to know in this world. She loves that you make the best chamomile tea and that you draw the best baths ever. She loves that you pamper her and spoil her and treat her like your baby. Like your queen. And she wishes that she could do the same for you and treat you like the precious man you are. Like her king. So I want you to stop, okay? Whatever it is that you’re chasing after. I want you to take a breath and see yourself. Because you’re loved. You’re so loved, Alaric. By that girl.”
Why does she talk so much? I didn’t finish reading this paragraph nor did I bother finishing reading the other three paragraphs before this. Imaging after talking so much Alaric didn’t even say he loved her back😂🫠
And it fucking took me two hours. It fucking took me more than two hours. To get my head, my body that wouldn’t stop shaking, under control. To get my thoughts under control. To get this urge to go back up to her room — which she went to after dropping the love bomb on me — and demand that she take it back. Demand that she explain herself.
Love, sweetheart, Alaric why do you want to torture me with more of her explanations? I don’t think anyone needs her to explain herself anymore. All of this could have been summarized into one paragraph but she just started speaking like Shakespeare and I was at the point where I just wanted the book to end okay?
Anyway they break up because Alaric wants her to have a future without him since she is his ward etc etc (what I understood after all the skipping)
Then Poe gets kidnapped by her first love Jimmy who btw, this is the best part out of all, he had already informed her a few chapters back that he and his drug dealer (who he owned money to) planned on fake kidnapping her so that they could take all her trust fund money. So there was no tour, it was just Jimmy getting Poe away from Alaric so that he could take her money, pay off his debt then move to New York with Poe who he loved and start over.
So they anyway actually kidnap her and then I skipped to the epilogue, everyone was happy, I screamed when I read about Zach and Cleopatra and that’s it.
Also does scene feel like a washed moment of Reed and Callie?
“I know what kissing is.”
Another tick. “And I also know what fucking is.”
Another tick, this one harder. “In fact,” I add, craning my neck and going up on my tiptoes, “I’ve done it myself.”
Then, hanging there, looming, he rumbles, “You’ve been fucked.” I wince, clutching my skirt. “I have.” “When?”
“M-many times.”
“Where?”
“A lot of places.”
“Who?” This question is growled. This question has been ripped out of his chest. I can tell. I can feel the vibrations of it in my own chest, and it makes lying to him even harder. Because I am lying. I haven’t been fucked. I haven’t even been kissed yet. I’ve been waiting for it. For my first kiss, since I was fifteen. Since I fell in love with Jimmy. But in this moment, it’s imperative that he knows, that my devil guardian knows, that I’ve been fucked and I’ve been kissed and I’ve been around the block many times. So I say, “A lot of guys, okay? A lot. I have experience. I’m not some naive little girl who doesn’t know anything.”
Honestly when I was reading this scene I thought I opened the wrong book 😂 and freaked out for a second because it i know after this was “fairy pussy” time.
Note: if you are wondering about what Alaric’s relationship with Poe’s mother was, she was part of his bullying process. Alarics mother died while birth which led to his father hating on him. Also Alaric was a weak child so he always go bullied. His care take forced him to ask Poe’s mother out, at that time she was nice to him so he did. But later got to know she only said yes to make another guy jealous. The other guy and his friend then had beaten up Alaric to the point he was hospitalized. So that’s why he hates Poe’s mom.
Word Count
Guardian - 111
Devil - 54
Okay so the two stars are only for Alaric. This book had an amazing background story for both the characters but the plot went flat for me.
SPOILERS AHEAD
plot
Poe’s mother passed away when she was just 14 years old. As per her mothers will Poe went under the custody of her grandparents family friend Mr. Theodore Marshall but since he wasn’t capable of taking care of her, she went into the care for Theodor’s son Alaric Rule Marshall.
When she first arrived at Alarics house, he didn’t speak to her at all during the first week which led her to believe that he hates her and doesn’t want anything to do with her, just like her famous mother which was the reason why she had a reputation of being a rebel child.
All she ever wanted was to be loved by someone, but her mother just never cared enough for her and made sure Poe was aware about it as well.
And now she was under the care of someone who also didn’t want anything to do with her so she decided to make a run for it but was stopped by Alaric when he finally spoke to her and made sure that she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. After that Poe swore to make is life miserable until he lets leave.
At 15, Poe gets caught with a boy named Jimmy, a school dropout at 17, who was Poe’s first love and that was the last straw for Alaric and he sent her away to St Mary’s.
Now at 18 she finally had the chance to graduate, get some of the money her mom had left for her and officially no longer need Alaric as her guardian, but Alaric again ruins her chances of freedom and makes her take summer school in order to graduate.
Because graduation and my friends aren’t the only thing he’s taken away from me, has he? He’s taken away something else too. Someone else. He’s taken away the love of my life.
Poe becomes even more desperate now to get her trust fund money and move to New York because her “first love” Jimmy is going on tour and asked her to join him. She tries everything in order to get Alaric to let her graduate early and leave, even as far as trying to seduce him to kiss her so that she can blackmail him but he is always one step ahead of her.
That is until Alaric realizes that he has been unfair on Poe by punishing her for something she hasn’t even done. He also can’t help but notice that she has grown up into a beautiful girl, nothing like her mother.
When I look at her, I see her. I see someone who went from being a fourteen-year-old burden that I couldn’t look at to an eighteen-year-old girl that I can’t look away from.
Issues
This book had potential, a lot of it. Both the main leads had amazing sob worthy background stories. I even did almost cry when Poe was telling Alaric about her bitch of a mother. But that just wasn’t enough to save this book.
First issue is the relationship development between the characters. Personally for me, it wasn’t smooth at all. Like one minute Poe is Planning to blackmail Alaric so she that she can get an early graduation and go with Jimmy to his tour and the next minute is smelling Alarics throat because she always wondered what he smelled like. You ate swearing up and down that you hate this man but when he shows a little attention you melt?
I get that she just wanted someone to love her and that’s why she thought she was in love with Jimmy and wanted to be with him and now that she was getting attention from Alaric she went fro hate to love real quick. But like take one step at a time please. You are supposed to be a “badass”.
“Yes. Because I’ve always wondered about your throat.”
“You’ve always wondered about my throat.”
“Yes. How it smells.”
“How it smells.”
“Yeah. If your scent is thicker here. Your scent of leather and cigar smoke.”
“My scent of leather and cigar smoke.
Yes they have a thing where they both love repeating what the other person has said. It was cute at first but then it got annoying.
Second issue is Poe, at first I excused her behavior and the way she spoke because of her age but then I just couldn’t take it anymore. After the 52% mark I started skipping.
So I skipped from chapter 23 to 30. When the chapter started I was really happy because I got to know they had sex for the first time, the chapter before and I was glad my eyes didn’t have to read that because I came to the conclusion after reading about “fairy pussy”, Saffron’s smut is not for me anymore, no matter how much I love her characters and plot. So anyway I just started chapter 30, thanking my lucky stars and then I read this
“Alaric?” His chest vibrated with a deep hum.
“Poe.”
“I feel it.”
“Ignore it.” I squirmed, rubbing my back against it.
“I can’t. He’s my friend.”
“What?” I turned around to look up at him again.
“What, are you saying he’s not my friend?” I frowned. “I hate to break it to you, Alaric, but your dick is my friend. He made me feel good. And people who make you feel good are your friends.”
This automatically resulted to me opening the index and skipping to chapter 35
“And it was you who taught me not to run after things, not to be desperate enough to chase after things and people. So what I did today, I’m sorry for that. I let you down. I let myself down. What I did back there was wrong. I almost turned something pure, something so fragile and soft and sweet like my love for you, into something dirty. And I’m not an expert in love — God, I’m not — but I do think that love shouldn’t be selfish. I do think that love shouldn’t be destruction but the building of things. Love shouldn’t be toxic but life-giving. And love definitely isn’t what I almost did for Jimmy with the whole camera thing, it’s what I want to do for you. And what I want to do is to give you this secret, okay? I want you to put it in your pocket and tuck it in your heart. This secret that there’s someone out there who loves you. That there’s a girl out there, in this world, who’s in love with you, Alaric. And she pines for you and longs for you and dreams about you. She thinks that you’re the most beautiful man that she’s ever seen. The most intelligent and complex and infuriating and endearing man. She loves your leather-bound books and your tweed jackets and your silver ring. She loves that you’re a history nerd and that you basically know everything there is to know in this world. She loves that you make the best chamomile tea and that you draw the best baths ever. She loves that you pamper her and spoil her and treat her like your baby. Like your queen. And she wishes that she could do the same for you and treat you like the precious man you are. Like her king. So I want you to stop, okay? Whatever it is that you’re chasing after. I want you to take a breath and see yourself. Because you’re loved. You’re so loved, Alaric. By that girl.”
Why does she talk so much? I didn’t finish reading this paragraph nor did I bother finishing reading the other three paragraphs before this. Imaging after talking so much Alaric didn’t even say he loved her back😂🫠
And it fucking took me two hours. It fucking took me more than two hours. To get my head, my body that wouldn’t stop shaking, under control. To get my thoughts under control. To get this urge to go back up to her room — which she went to after dropping the love bomb on me — and demand that she take it back. Demand that she explain herself.
Love, sweetheart, Alaric why do you want to torture me with more of her explanations? I don’t think anyone needs her to explain herself anymore. All of this could have been summarized into one paragraph but she just started speaking like Shakespeare and I was at the point where I just wanted the book to end okay?
Anyway they break up because Alaric wants her to have a future without him since she is his ward etc etc (what I understood after all the skipping)
Then Poe gets kidnapped by her first love Jimmy who btw, this is the best part out of all, he had already informed her a few chapters back that he and his drug dealer (who he owned money to) planned on fake kidnapping her so that they could take all her trust fund money. So there was no tour, it was just Jimmy getting Poe away from Alaric so that he could take her money, pay off his debt then move to New York with Poe who he loved and start over.
So they anyway actually kidnap her and then I skipped to the epilogue, everyone was happy, I screamed when I read about Zach and Cleopatra and that’s it.
Also does scene feel like a washed moment of Reed and Callie?
“I know what kissing is.”
Another tick. “And I also know what fucking is.”
Another tick, this one harder. “In fact,” I add, craning my neck and going up on my tiptoes, “I’ve done it myself.”
Then, hanging there, looming, he rumbles, “You’ve been fucked.” I wince, clutching my skirt. “I have.” “When?”
“M-many times.”
“Where?”
“A lot of places.”
“Who?” This question is growled. This question has been ripped out of his chest. I can tell. I can feel the vibrations of it in my own chest, and it makes lying to him even harder. Because I am lying. I haven’t been fucked. I haven’t even been kissed yet. I’ve been waiting for it. For my first kiss, since I was fifteen. Since I fell in love with Jimmy. But in this moment, it’s imperative that he knows, that my devil guardian knows, that I’ve been fucked and I’ve been kissed and I’ve been around the block many times. So I say, “A lot of guys, okay? A lot. I have experience. I’m not some naive little girl who doesn’t know anything.”
Honestly when I was reading this scene I thought I opened the wrong book 😂 and freaked out for a second because it i know after this was “fairy pussy” time.
Note: if you are wondering about what Alaric’s relationship with Poe’s mother was, she was part of his bullying process. Alarics mother died while birth which led to his father hating on him. Also Alaric was a weak child so he always go bullied. His care take forced him to ask Poe’s mother out, at that time she was nice to him so he did. But later got to know she only said yes to make another guy jealous. The other guy and his friend then had beaten up Alaric to the point he was hospitalized. So that’s why he hates Poe’s mom.
June 14, 2022
Rating: 5/5 stars
This book was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I am so glad to say it did not disappoint! Not that I ever had any doubts anyway. I have loved every single book written by Saffron A. Kent, and Hey, Mister Marshall was no exception. The writing in this book is truly addictive and hard to put down. Not to mention, so many moments in this book had me squealing so hard and lowkey gave me heart palpitations, they were so good! This book is a new favorite of mine and I’m so sad to say goodbye to my favorite series, the St. Mary’s Rebels.
”I swear to God, Mr. Marshall, I’m going to fucking scream.”
“It’s Principal Marshall now,” he corrects, his features growing more predatory by the second, and more beautiful too. “And I very much encourage screaming.”
Likes:
- Alaric Rule Marshall: I love every single one of Saffron A. Kent’s men, so of course I love Mr. Marshall. He’s literally so hot, his whole tweed jacket, scholar/academia aesthetic is 🤌🏻🤭 Not to mention, his dry sense of humor was something I very much enjoyed. His banter with Poe was amazing and don’t even get me started on how grumpy he was. Chef’s kiss, the perfect amount of grumpiness 👩🏻🍳💋 Also, the fact that he would do LITERALLY anything for Poe *swoon* 🤗
- Poe Austen Blythe: The ultimate troublemaker 👏🏻 I love how much she tested Alaric from the very beginning. There was never a dull moment with Poe as the narrator. In this book, we see a very different, more vulnerable side to Poe that we haven’t ever seen before, and I loved it. She was so cute, and had such a soft side to her that is very easy to relate to. To be honest, I find every one of Saffron’s heroines to be extremely relatable, but there’s something about Poe that I loved so, so, so much. She truly deserves everything, and deserves to be spoiled by Alaric 🤌🏻😌
- Angst: I am a sucker for angst and Saffron delivers every 👏🏻 single 👏🏻 time 👏🏻 The push-and-pull between Alaric and Poe had me feeling every type of emotion and I couldn’t get enough of it.
- Forbidden aspect: Any type of age gap is definitely a guilty pleasure trope for me, mixed with some type of forbidden-ness, and it is PERFECT. This book has all the tropes in it: age gap (17 years), enemies to lovers, guardian/ward, and principal/student. While it’s not anything I would ever condone in real life, it is SO entertaining to read in fiction ✋🏻🤭
Dislikes:
- Nothing major, but…
Important Extra Info:
- POV: Dual (Written in both Poe and Alaric’s POV)
- Cliffhanger: No
- HEA: HFN
- Separation: No
- OW/OM Drama: Yes, both
- Cheating: No
This book was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I am so glad to say it did not disappoint! Not that I ever had any doubts anyway. I have loved every single book written by Saffron A. Kent, and Hey, Mister Marshall was no exception. The writing in this book is truly addictive and hard to put down. Not to mention, so many moments in this book had me squealing so hard and lowkey gave me heart palpitations, they were so good! This book is a new favorite of mine and I’m so sad to say goodbye to my favorite series, the St. Mary’s Rebels.
”I swear to God, Mr. Marshall, I’m going to fucking scream.”
“It’s Principal Marshall now,” he corrects, his features growing more predatory by the second, and more beautiful too. “And I very much encourage screaming.”
Likes:
- Alaric Rule Marshall: I love every single one of Saffron A. Kent’s men, so of course I love Mr. Marshall. He’s literally so hot, his whole tweed jacket, scholar/academia aesthetic is 🤌🏻🤭 Not to mention, his dry sense of humor was something I very much enjoyed. His banter with Poe was amazing and don’t even get me started on how grumpy he was. Chef’s kiss, the perfect amount of grumpiness 👩🏻🍳💋 Also, the fact that he would do LITERALLY anything for Poe *swoon* 🤗
- Poe Austen Blythe: The ultimate troublemaker 👏🏻 I love how much she tested Alaric from the very beginning. There was never a dull moment with Poe as the narrator. In this book, we see a very different, more vulnerable side to Poe that we haven’t ever seen before, and I loved it. She was so cute, and had such a soft side to her that is very easy to relate to. To be honest, I find every one of Saffron’s heroines to be extremely relatable, but there’s something about Poe that I loved so, so, so much. She truly deserves everything, and deserves to be spoiled by Alaric 🤌🏻😌
- Angst: I am a sucker for angst and Saffron delivers every 👏🏻 single 👏🏻 time 👏🏻 The push-and-pull between Alaric and Poe had me feeling every type of emotion and I couldn’t get enough of it.
- Forbidden aspect: Any type of age gap is definitely a guilty pleasure trope for me, mixed with some type of forbidden-ness, and it is PERFECT. This book has all the tropes in it: age gap (17 years), enemies to lovers, guardian/ward, and principal/student. While it’s not anything I would ever condone in real life, it is SO entertaining to read in fiction ✋🏻🤭
Dislikes:
- Nothing major, but…
Important Extra Info:
- POV: Dual (Written in both Poe and Alaric’s POV)
- Cliffhanger: No
- HEA: HFN
- Separation: No
- OW/OM Drama: Yes, both
- Cheating: No
June 16, 2022
The best for the last! I was scared and traumatized after Callie and Reed, and that made my expectations lower but this one is for me the best written in the st marys world. And The story was top tier.
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WE HAVE A NAME!!! ALARIC and he is a tyrant!!!!!! Safron you cannot expect me to wait 6 months pls (shaking and throwing up) 😭😭 - 14 of june release date girls!
I established that I hope this to be Guardian/ Ward trope BUT
give me:
1.A GOOD age gap ( pls, maybe a may-dec romance, the large the gap is the best, don’t be afraid!!!)
4. Stuffy and old fashioned hero & bad girl ( conservative hero and informal heroine, chef kiss)
2. obsessed Girl trope I meeeean (👀)
3. Angst fest
And maybe this supposed mr marshall gave the phone to Poe so he can communicate with her , cause you know he probably misses her a lot and the SEXTING.
All posibilities... i need this asap
————————————
Maybe Poe’s book !!?? 📱
My bet is Guardian/ Ward it would be DOPE 🤧
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WE HAVE A NAME!!! ALARIC and he is a tyrant!!!!!! Safron you cannot expect me to wait 6 months pls (shaking and throwing up) 😭😭 - 14 of june release date girls!
I established that I hope this to be Guardian/ Ward trope BUT
give me:
1.A GOOD age gap ( pls, maybe a may-dec romance, the large the gap is the best, don’t be afraid!!!)
4. Stuffy and old fashioned hero & bad girl ( conservative hero and informal heroine, chef kiss)
2. obsessed Girl trope I meeeean (👀)
3. Angst fest
And maybe this supposed mr marshall gave the phone to Poe so he can communicate with her , cause you know he probably misses her a lot and the SEXTING.
All posibilities... i need this asap
————————————
Maybe Poe’s book !!?? 📱
My bet is Guardian/ Ward it would be DOPE 🤧
June 14, 2022
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5)
Trope: Taboo: guardian/ward; enemies to lovers
Angst: 😱😱😱😱
Smexy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hey, Mister Marshall was a super sweet and heartbreaking romance about two "unloved" people finding their person - despite each seemingly being the opposite of what the other one thinks they need. This one was a bit of a slow burn - the hate to enemies was real! Add on the taboo nature of their relationship, it was hands off for a good chunk of the book. Both of the main characters in this book were wonderful. The stuffy, older man and the reckless high schooler just wore their similar past traumas differently, but it made it oh so sweet and powerful when they came together. I really enjoyed Poe, despite her immaturity at times, she did have some amazing growth during the book. She was a fighter and willing to go after what she wanted, but willing to sacrifice for the person she loves. I loved Alaric's backstory and the vulnerability it gave his character. Overall, a great read and I can't wait for the next book!
⛔️ My bookshelves can sometimes contain spoilers
Trope: Taboo: guardian/ward; enemies to lovers
Angst: 😱😱😱😱
Smexy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hey, Mister Marshall was a super sweet and heartbreaking romance about two "unloved" people finding their person - despite each seemingly being the opposite of what the other one thinks they need. This one was a bit of a slow burn - the hate to enemies was real! Add on the taboo nature of their relationship, it was hands off for a good chunk of the book. Both of the main characters in this book were wonderful. The stuffy, older man and the reckless high schooler just wore their similar past traumas differently, but it made it oh so sweet and powerful when they came together. I really enjoyed Poe, despite her immaturity at times, she did have some amazing growth during the book. She was a fighter and willing to go after what she wanted, but willing to sacrifice for the person she loves. I loved Alaric's backstory and the vulnerability it gave his character. Overall, a great read and I can't wait for the next book!
⛔️ My bookshelves can sometimes contain spoilers
August 26, 2022
It would have been five stars if it had been reduced by at least 100 pages, in some places it went slowly and monotonously. In general, I liked their story!
June 11, 2022
ARC
Beware Saffronettes, this is much more slow burn than her usual and that says something! This is enemies to lovers for sure. I always bicker for Saffron to change it up a little bit and with this book, she definitely did! The couple took their sweet time & it seems like it was reversed, who fell first and all. I really adore how hard she fought for him. Saffron is a ride or die character writer and Poe was top 3 in that department!!! I'm slightly disappointed that the next book is coming November. I need my Saffron fill, okay? But good things come to those who wait & with Saffron, I'm in a patient phase!
Beware Saffronettes, this is much more slow burn than her usual and that says something! This is enemies to lovers for sure. I always bicker for Saffron to change it up a little bit and with this book, she definitely did! The couple took their sweet time & it seems like it was reversed, who fell first and all. I really adore how hard she fought for him. Saffron is a ride or die character writer and Poe was top 3 in that department!!! I'm slightly disappointed that the next book is coming November. I need my Saffron fill, okay? But good things come to those who wait & with Saffron, I'm in a patient phase!
June 14, 2022
If you're a super-duper Saffron and age-gap fan - don't read my review! 😂
Poe + Alaric aka Mr. Marshall
Four years ago Poe's mom died and she was sent to live at the Marshall mansion. She hates it there and Mr. Marshall doesn't seem to want her there either. That's how she ends up at St. Mary's School for troubled teens a year later. Not entirely without reasons of course.
But now Mr. Marshall is suddenly the new pricipal at the school - which his family founded many decades ago. Poe still hates him and she needs to leave this effing place - she wants to go on tour with her kinda-boyfriend Jimmy and his band. But she also needs to graduate to receive the money her mom left her. And it's all in Mr. Marshall's hands... Let the fun times begin ...
════════════════
Well. I'm not the biggest fan of age-gap romances. Or just not a fan. 17 years is kind of a lot. But it's also somehow not as creepy as I thought it would be. Poe is 18 and Alaric is 35. But still. I will never be the biggest age-gap fan. What's so sexy about the fact that guys die so much younger and then romance authors want to help that along so that our beloved heroines will lose their husbands way too early?! I will never get that.
Anyway. Next to not liking age gap thingies - I also hate love triangles. And we kinda get that here a bit too. Not really but enough so that I hated it. The Jimmy side-story could've been cut fromt he book completely - I wouldn't have minded at all and it didn't really do anything for the story.
But other than that it was a sweet romance. A bit young and immature here and there. And a bit too old and extra old on Alaric's side - he acts and dresses like a 65 year old. And a bit too awkward on the dirty talk side of things. I don't like dirty talk when it's done great, but when it's done in this age-gappy creepy way it's just ... ew. (Whenever I hear the word Daddy said to a non-father in an age-gap romance - I throw up a little in my mouth. Sorry.)
Jeez - it feels like I'm only hating on this story. I'm not. Alaric and Poe are adorable. Both haven't had the greatest lives up until now and they're so perfect for each other. I loved the moments with Mo and the cherry pies and the lip stick and Poe's hobby/passion and I adored how angry Poe gets about what happened to Alaric ... it's really adorable. It just would've been even better without that huge age difference. 🤷♀️
But I still liked reading it. It was a very sweet and sexy and heartbreaking age gap love story!
💜
💜
June 16, 2022
Pensé que nada iba a superar al fairy pussy pero ahora que leí sobre el cherry pie pussy no se cual es peor 🤣
“...That I’m fucking inhaling and snorting like coke. The scent of cherries.”
Me siento un poco decepcionada con este libro porqué la Poe que vimos aquí no se parece en NADA a la Poe de los libros anteriores. Pero buenooo, la historia estuvo ahí... La verdad es que esperaba mucho más, además no era necesario que en cada frase Poe mencionara el color de los ojos de Alaric, o su estatura, o el ancho de sus hombros... Ya había quedado claro las primeras veinte veces.
“I hate to break it to you, Alaric, but your dick is my friend. He made me feel good. And people who make you feel good are your friends.”
“...That I’m fucking inhaling and snorting like coke. The scent of cherries.”
Me siento un poco decepcionada con este libro porqué la Poe que vimos aquí no se parece en NADA a la Poe de los libros anteriores. Pero buenooo, la historia estuvo ahí... La verdad es que esperaba mucho más, además no era necesario que en cada frase Poe mencionara el color de los ojos de Alaric, o su estatura, o el ancho de sus hombros... Ya había quedado claro las primeras veinte veces.
“I hate to break it to you, Alaric, but your dick is my friend. He made me feel good. And people who make you feel good are your friends.”
Read
July 4, 2022missing simonwillow-thomaslayla so bad
April 3, 2024
"It’s not the heartbreak that kills you, it’s the hope that your heart will one day stop hurting."
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞:
𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧/𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐝—
𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥/𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭—
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞—
𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩: 𝟏𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬
If you followed from the first book you'd know,
Poe is said to be a rebel and I had my hopes up for this book for all the circumstances.
As I went further into it, I kept questioning is it what we were promised when it's "𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺" ending the series.
𝐏𝐨𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫)
"𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁. 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗲𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀."
She's the bane of everyone’s existence also she has a reputation to maintain.
She's all bark and no bite character for me and freedom of speech is human right but this girl should be taxed. She annoyed me with all of her long ass repetitive talks when I knew she'd still run in circles after she's done talking also successfully made me feel I'm reading teenage shit.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧)
Describe Marshall in two words? 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
It's understandable how all of the previous MCs have already been mentioned and had scenes here and there before we grabbed their books but Alaric was an unfamiliar character that gets to start from the root in this book.
He had a bad past and all the hate, reasons that got him working the way he did, got me confused like he's mean (a good thing) he pushes and avoids her (another good thing)
BUT IN CONTRAST, all the things I just appreciated became him in a way that I could not see his wants and desires for her for the most part of the book. Like show me you're losing your shit when you dare not look at her.
He was too calm, controlled, disciplined in a way that just fed me ahh okay thoughts.
Alaric is a good man,I didn't seem to love his character nor I disliked it but I loved the idea of things that he thought and did for her.
Though I added an entire star cause HE SAID IT. HE DID—
"𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙."
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
It's sad when the book is above 600 pages and the characters and plot are written poorly.
It got messy in a way it started to rub me off in a I don't care anymore way.
The reason how I understood I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did with others because whenever I was reading a reunion scene I easily forgot the main couple's existence which didn't happen with other books? because in other books I couldn't shift my mind from the main couple even when the scenes weren't theirs.
𝐏𝐨𝐞+𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐜 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥)
I enjoyed some scenes very much and their banter did make me smile at times. Alaric's out of the blue confrontations and his monologues were hot.
𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧.
𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨.
𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙤.
𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩. 𝙍𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙩, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩. 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮.
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚.
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 — 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤.
𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜…
Here's the review of my favourite book from this series (𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬)↓
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞:
𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧/𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐝—
𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥/𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭—
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞—
𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩: 𝟏𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬
If you followed from the first book you'd know,
Poe is said to be a rebel and I had my hopes up for this book for all the circumstances.
As I went further into it, I kept questioning is it what we were promised when it's "𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺" ending the series.
𝐏𝐨𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫)
"𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁. 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗲𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀."
She's the bane of everyone’s existence also she has a reputation to maintain.
She's all bark and no bite character for me and freedom of speech is human right but this girl should be taxed. She annoyed me with all of her long ass repetitive talks when I knew she'd still run in circles after she's done talking also successfully made me feel I'm reading teenage shit.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧)
Describe Marshall in two words? 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
It's understandable how all of the previous MCs have already been mentioned and had scenes here and there before we grabbed their books but Alaric was an unfamiliar character that gets to start from the root in this book.
He had a bad past and all the hate, reasons that got him working the way he did, got me confused like he's mean (a good thing) he pushes and avoids her (another good thing)
BUT IN CONTRAST, all the things I just appreciated became him in a way that I could not see his wants and desires for her for the most part of the book. Like show me you're losing your shit when you dare not look at her.
He was too calm, controlled, disciplined in a way that just fed me ahh okay thoughts.
Alaric is a good man,I didn't seem to love his character nor I disliked it but I loved the idea of things that he thought and did for her.
Though I added an entire star cause HE SAID IT. HE DID—
"𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙."
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
It's sad when the book is above 600 pages and the characters and plot are written poorly.
It got messy in a way it started to rub me off in a I don't care anymore way.
The reason how I understood I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did with others because whenever I was reading a reunion scene I easily forgot the main couple's existence which didn't happen with other books? because in other books I couldn't shift my mind from the main couple even when the scenes weren't theirs.
𝐏𝐨𝐞+𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐜 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥)
I enjoyed some scenes very much and their banter did make me smile at times. Alaric's out of the blue confrontations and his monologues were hot.
𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧.
𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨.
𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙤.
𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩. 𝙍𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙩, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩. 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮.
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚.
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 — 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤.
𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜…
Here's the review of my favourite book from this series (𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬)↓
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
June 14, 2022
What a beautiful ending to this series. I didn’t think I would connect with Poe because when I got glimpses of her from the series I thought her to be immature and yet in her own book I found her to be the most tolerable. She is a gem. And Alaric? Alaric is one MEAN mf. I mean wow holy hell, this is pure enemies to lovers, soulmates, forbidden goodness. I genuinely really could not get enough of these two. And these two didn’t get together until more then half way through this book so talk about some wicked tension and slow burn.
But Alaric and poe were a tragic masterpiece with a beautiful happy ending. I felt for both these two. I loved that they pushed each other’s button. I just wasn’t expecting Alaric to be so cruel? But man did it make for some good tension, angst and SPICE. I mean I don’t need to tell you that saffron is GOOD at spice.
I do wish we got more of the girls and the boys this time around and the epilogue was wrapped up with all their POV’s but this was solid and defintely lived up to the hype. This was seriously a book you’ll go back to once your done.
But Alaric and poe were a tragic masterpiece with a beautiful happy ending. I felt for both these two. I loved that they pushed each other’s button. I just wasn’t expecting Alaric to be so cruel? But man did it make for some good tension, angst and SPICE. I mean I don’t need to tell you that saffron is GOOD at spice.
I do wish we got more of the girls and the boys this time around and the epilogue was wrapped up with all their POV’s but this was solid and defintely lived up to the hype. This was seriously a book you’ll go back to once your done.
January 12, 2023
<3.5 stars) Graduation day for one of my favorite series has arrived, as we take our last hurrah with the St. Mary’s rebels. How fitting it is that Saffron saved the most rebellious of all for last- the heartachingly love thirsty, deeply misunderstood wild child Poe. Poe may seem like the fiercest of all, but turns out she’s the most broken, the most lost and unseen of all our St. Mary’s rebels. There is a tragic loneliness to our feisty little Poe, a thinly shrouded vulnerability, a desperate longing for connection, care, and belonging. And now that Poe finds herself punished by her principal/guardian and trapped yet again at St. Mary’s, this time without her friends, Poe’s desperation and baggage really comes to light, in the most unexpected of ways.
This story definitely feels different than the others- not only is the relationship a bit more taboo given Mr. Marshall’s may (some known, some not) connections to Poe, but our story does not begin with a besotted St. Mary’s girl and her intentionally oblivious older love. Poe and Alaric are sworn enemies- barely interactive, genuinely at odds. The burn, thus is much slower- as both, Poe in particular, have to uncover feelings and attraction that didn’t pre-exist, at least in their consciousness. Turns out Mr. Marshall has his own baggage, his own lost quality, but unlike Poe who manifests hers with a reckless wildness and effervescent passion, Alaric has buried his pains in his straight arrowed, detached stoicism, his mantle of responsibility. But Poe unsettles him, or rather they unsettle each other, and soon they discover their souls share similar pains, similar thirst, similar longing to break out of their lost unlovedness. And sweetly protective, beautiful connection unfurls- it’s a slow build, but a breathtaking reward to see these two heal, to confront their own demons and embrace their own needs, as they start to see parts of themselves in each other. Loving each other helps them love themselves.
This story is angsty, the slowest burn of the series, but deeply interpersonal and meta. At times, perhaps, a bit too much meta. There are a lot of beautiful elements to this story and the overarching healing that occurs does move in the end, it pains me to say this is my least favorite of the series. The first part of the story just did not engage me in the way that Saffron’s stories normally grab me- the narrative felt a bit distracted and aimless in places, our hero-heroine had too few meaningful interactions, the distance between them perhaps too wide. Long mental monologues felt repetitive. The forbidden didn’t even feel all that forbidden. I didn’t feel that strong emotional connectivity that I usually do, the pacing just felt all too slow, the characters a bit too one note. I had to really push myself to stay with the story, and while perhaps it is a matter of preference, but I do think that my disconnection was more than just the slower burn. I felt we had a bit too much filler before we found our way to the heart and soul. But we got there, and at about the 60% mark, I started to enjoy the story much more. The characters deepen, and we had that rich emotional tension, a captivating emotional chemistry, and an illicit and delicious forbidden connection that I anticipated ,that I had been craving
And with characters familiar and new orbiting around, we get some bittersweet closure with all of the ST. Mary’s gang and some promising teases for stories to come. In fact, I do think we had a bit TOO much setting up future stories and series. I missed having more time with the St. Mary’s girls, it felt like this book already closed that chapter and was starting a new one. But I am interested in Echo and Jupiter, even if I wanted Poe and the girls to have more of a last hurrah. Overall, this world has been a favorite of mine- the perfect playground for the angsty emotions, tantalizing sizzle, and poetic prose of Saffron A. Kent. And even if Poe’s story wasn’t quite the finale I anticipated, I still loved this series and loved the romance (once we got to it) in this sweet final story. It’s my love for this series that inspired this rating- an all time favorite series with characters I’ll always love. I will miss them all so much, but what a sweet and touching farewell.
This story definitely feels different than the others- not only is the relationship a bit more taboo given Mr. Marshall’s may (some known, some not) connections to Poe, but our story does not begin with a besotted St. Mary’s girl and her intentionally oblivious older love. Poe and Alaric are sworn enemies- barely interactive, genuinely at odds. The burn, thus is much slower- as both, Poe in particular, have to uncover feelings and attraction that didn’t pre-exist, at least in their consciousness. Turns out Mr. Marshall has his own baggage, his own lost quality, but unlike Poe who manifests hers with a reckless wildness and effervescent passion, Alaric has buried his pains in his straight arrowed, detached stoicism, his mantle of responsibility. But Poe unsettles him, or rather they unsettle each other, and soon they discover their souls share similar pains, similar thirst, similar longing to break out of their lost unlovedness. And sweetly protective, beautiful connection unfurls- it’s a slow build, but a breathtaking reward to see these two heal, to confront their own demons and embrace their own needs, as they start to see parts of themselves in each other. Loving each other helps them love themselves.
This story is angsty, the slowest burn of the series, but deeply interpersonal and meta. At times, perhaps, a bit too much meta. There are a lot of beautiful elements to this story and the overarching healing that occurs does move in the end, it pains me to say this is my least favorite of the series. The first part of the story just did not engage me in the way that Saffron’s stories normally grab me- the narrative felt a bit distracted and aimless in places, our hero-heroine had too few meaningful interactions, the distance between them perhaps too wide. Long mental monologues felt repetitive. The forbidden didn’t even feel all that forbidden. I didn’t feel that strong emotional connectivity that I usually do, the pacing just felt all too slow, the characters a bit too one note. I had to really push myself to stay with the story, and while perhaps it is a matter of preference, but I do think that my disconnection was more than just the slower burn. I felt we had a bit too much filler before we found our way to the heart and soul. But we got there, and at about the 60% mark, I started to enjoy the story much more. The characters deepen, and we had that rich emotional tension, a captivating emotional chemistry, and an illicit and delicious forbidden connection that I anticipated ,that I had been craving
And with characters familiar and new orbiting around, we get some bittersweet closure with all of the ST. Mary’s gang and some promising teases for stories to come. In fact, I do think we had a bit TOO much setting up future stories and series. I missed having more time with the St. Mary’s girls, it felt like this book already closed that chapter and was starting a new one. But I am interested in Echo and Jupiter, even if I wanted Poe and the girls to have more of a last hurrah. Overall, this world has been a favorite of mine- the perfect playground for the angsty emotions, tantalizing sizzle, and poetic prose of Saffron A. Kent. And even if Poe’s story wasn’t quite the finale I anticipated, I still loved this series and loved the romance (once we got to it) in this sweet final story. It’s my love for this series that inspired this rating- an all time favorite series with characters I’ll always love. I will miss them all so much, but what a sweet and touching farewell.
July 12, 2022
Shades of purple: The guardian meets his match
Alaric Rule Marshall and Poe Austen Blyton
Since Alaric became Poe’s unplanned guardian after the death of her mother, it seems that he’s charted her life for misery. What does Alaric have against her? Could it be that she’s a supreme pain and troublemaker, in fact, always has been where pranks and disruption are a routine part of her life? Does she willfully go against his wishes, his demands, setting out to unbalance his life, get back at him? And then Alaric sends her away to a girl’s reform school, only to return years later from working abroad to become the school’s principal – and delay her graduation. Ok so she doesn’t have the best grades, but still why does it seem Alaric is out for Poe? Poe is spunky, outspoken, and creative wearing her librarian glasses and floppy purple hat. Alaric is the broody, intellectual, wildly sexy in his tweedy, leather elbow patched jackets – brown, grey, or black because blue would be too vibrant. Alaric and Poe seemingly in stark contrast, but surprisingly so much in common. So much in common in fact, they are perfect for each other. Their story unfolds in the hurts, truths, burning desires, and solace of a forbidden age-gap romance.
Alaric might be one of my favorite heroes of the St. Mary’s Rebels series. He’s hot – with an 8-pack since he works out two hours a day, boxing; learned – he has two Ph.Ds; successful; and a self-proclaimed not so nice guy, let's just say he could be considered mean. And he owned it. He’s as bad boy as Roman Reed Jackson (my now second favorite) but with a maturity, dominance, painful past, and drool-worthy broodiness I adore in my heroes. Add those to a preponderance of jealousy and dirty talk with Poe, and he is absolutely swoon-worthy. Don’t let the staid tweed fool you. Alaric is electric. The very deliberate delivery of the story reinforced both Alaric’s – Principal / Mister Marshall – and Poe’s characters.
This story elicited lots of angst and sadness drawn from a careful peeling away of their lives, their unexpected commonalities of painful past. I was torn with empathy reading about mistreatment, their not receiving love, not feeling they were enough to those who should have cared for them and the repercussions as manifested in their behaviors with others and against each other. Of course, there was still burning sexual tension, fiery attraction as despite Poe’s innocence, she was no wallflower, not shy by any stretch. She was a spritely, purply vixen to Alaric’s growly, controlled formality, merely a cover for the fire, a cauldron of rage underneath.
Despite Alaric’s close family, pseudo-mother Mo and Poe’s new friends Jupiter and Echo, this story centered around just the two, though some great appearances from the former girl power crew, Callie and sister-in-law Tempest, and Wyn, along with their significant others, Roman, Ledger, and Conrad and the rest of his brothers. Gotta say I missed more attention on side characters, especially given the length of the book and strength of the series. It could have benefitted from their development rather than the predominant myopic romance. I loved the hint of other person drama, just to stir the jealousy pot because there is nothing like a SAK hero unleashed.
A very decided slow burn, very measured for most of the story, which felt unnecessary long amid the author’s characteristic and favored lyrical writing style, the latter of which I am fond. Purple imagery, poetic symbolism, endearing quirks, and the characters were vivid, live, their romance tangible. Broad shoulders, dark, chocolate chips eyes, wildcats and dragons, various hues of purple lipstick and attire. Perhaps, a little less reinforcement, but it wouldn’t be SAK without it. It also wouldn’t be SAK without the spice, and though it takes a while to arrive, holy smokes when it did! There was no shyness to their encounters, simply raw, sultry, and incendiary.
A long, very slow burn age-gap romance with angst of the forbidden, troubled past, and two unexpected, well-matched loves, Alaric and Poe were a languid, enemies turned friends to lovers, sexy read. Tempered with humor, cute rebellions and charming interactions, it was also an emotional experience. I enjoyed it, and I did not want to say goodbye.
Alaric Rule Marshall and Poe Austen Blyton
Since Alaric became Poe’s unplanned guardian after the death of her mother, it seems that he’s charted her life for misery. What does Alaric have against her? Could it be that she’s a supreme pain and troublemaker, in fact, always has been where pranks and disruption are a routine part of her life? Does she willfully go against his wishes, his demands, setting out to unbalance his life, get back at him? And then Alaric sends her away to a girl’s reform school, only to return years later from working abroad to become the school’s principal – and delay her graduation. Ok so she doesn’t have the best grades, but still why does it seem Alaric is out for Poe? Poe is spunky, outspoken, and creative wearing her librarian glasses and floppy purple hat. Alaric is the broody, intellectual, wildly sexy in his tweedy, leather elbow patched jackets – brown, grey, or black because blue would be too vibrant. Alaric and Poe seemingly in stark contrast, but surprisingly so much in common. So much in common in fact, they are perfect for each other. Their story unfolds in the hurts, truths, burning desires, and solace of a forbidden age-gap romance.
Alaric might be one of my favorite heroes of the St. Mary’s Rebels series. He’s hot – with an 8-pack since he works out two hours a day, boxing; learned – he has two Ph.Ds; successful; and a self-proclaimed not so nice guy, let's just say he could be considered mean. And he owned it. He’s as bad boy as Roman Reed Jackson (my now second favorite) but with a maturity, dominance, painful past, and drool-worthy broodiness I adore in my heroes. Add those to a preponderance of jealousy and dirty talk with Poe, and he is absolutely swoon-worthy. Don’t let the staid tweed fool you. Alaric is electric. The very deliberate delivery of the story reinforced both Alaric’s – Principal / Mister Marshall – and Poe’s characters.
This story elicited lots of angst and sadness drawn from a careful peeling away of their lives, their unexpected commonalities of painful past. I was torn with empathy reading about mistreatment, their not receiving love, not feeling they were enough to those who should have cared for them and the repercussions as manifested in their behaviors with others and against each other. Of course, there was still burning sexual tension, fiery attraction as despite Poe’s innocence, she was no wallflower, not shy by any stretch. She was a spritely, purply vixen to Alaric’s growly, controlled formality, merely a cover for the fire, a cauldron of rage underneath.
Despite Alaric’s close family, pseudo-mother Mo and Poe’s new friends Jupiter and Echo, this story centered around just the two, though some great appearances from the former girl power crew, Callie and sister-in-law Tempest, and Wyn, along with their significant others, Roman, Ledger, and Conrad and the rest of his brothers. Gotta say I missed more attention on side characters, especially given the length of the book and strength of the series. It could have benefitted from their development rather than the predominant myopic romance. I loved the hint of other person drama, just to stir the jealousy pot because there is nothing like a SAK hero unleashed.
A very decided slow burn, very measured for most of the story, which felt unnecessary long amid the author’s characteristic and favored lyrical writing style, the latter of which I am fond. Purple imagery, poetic symbolism, endearing quirks, and the characters were vivid, live, their romance tangible. Broad shoulders, dark, chocolate chips eyes, wildcats and dragons, various hues of purple lipstick and attire. Perhaps, a little less reinforcement, but it wouldn’t be SAK without it. It also wouldn’t be SAK without the spice, and though it takes a while to arrive, holy smokes when it did! There was no shyness to their encounters, simply raw, sultry, and incendiary.
A long, very slow burn age-gap romance with angst of the forbidden, troubled past, and two unexpected, well-matched loves, Alaric and Poe were a languid, enemies turned friends to lovers, sexy read. Tempered with humor, cute rebellions and charming interactions, it was also an emotional experience. I enjoyed it, and I did not want to say goodbye.
June 15, 2022
5 Tweed purple stars
You deserve to be loved like no one has ever been loved before. Like you're the only girl in this world. The first girl, the last girl."
Get your tissues out, SAK is taking us on one last ride in the St. Mary's Rebel world and it's one of the most memorable, heart-warming, fun rides of our life. Poe and Alaric's story is one of my favorite reads of the year. I was sad to see this come to an end, but I know in my heart that this is just the beginning of Poe & Alaric's story. The end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. After reading HMM, my purple heart is ecstatic, Poe & Alaric have a piece of my soul.
I've been waiting for this book for what seems like forever now, and I'm so happy to finally get this story. Hey, Mister Marshall was perfect, completely perfection and what Poe and Alaric deserved. The story starts with a glimpse of the past, and we get to see a young Poe and Alaric during their first encounters. The book focuses on the present, St. Mary's world. Poe and Alaric are spending the summer in St. Mary's; at this point in time their relationship is somewhat complicated. There seems to be an animosity between Poe & Alaric. But a lot can happen in the summer. To see their relationship progress from the prologue to the epilogue was touching. Their story is not always easy; it's complex and beautiful.
I loved Alaric and Poe as a couple, but I also loved their individual characters. Poe is such a rebel, and I loved that. She really goes after what she wants, and also has one of the biggest hearts. In all definitions, Poe is really a diva and wildcat with the biggest soul. Poe will do everything for the people she loves, and she's literally the best friend you could ever wish for. Alaric, oh man where do I begin? I want to fangirl about him all day. Alaric is one of the most intelligent men out there, and there more behind the renaissance man exterior. I loved that we finally got to see his POV, and read about his feelings. Alaric was one of the main highlights of the book for me. No one writes book-boyfriends like SAK does, and Alaric was just perfect. The Renaissance professor and his troublemaker diva.
The epilogue was so beautiful. Only SAK can make me feel so happy and want to cry of nostalgia at the same time. Poe and Alaric got the ending they deserved, but I don't want to say it was an ending. This epilogue was a "I see you later" because I really want to get crumbs of St. Mary's World. ALSO, SEEING ONE OF MY FAV COUPLES MAKE AN APPEARANCE *cries of joy*. Thank you SAK, and cheers
You deserve to be loved like no one has ever been loved before. Like you're the only girl in this world. The first girl, the last girl."
Get your tissues out, SAK is taking us on one last ride in the St. Mary's Rebel world and it's one of the most memorable, heart-warming, fun rides of our life. Poe and Alaric's story is one of my favorite reads of the year. I was sad to see this come to an end, but I know in my heart that this is just the beginning of Poe & Alaric's story. The end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. After reading HMM, my purple heart is ecstatic, Poe & Alaric have a piece of my soul.
I've been waiting for this book for what seems like forever now, and I'm so happy to finally get this story. Hey, Mister Marshall was perfect, completely perfection and what Poe and Alaric deserved. The story starts with a glimpse of the past, and we get to see a young Poe and Alaric during their first encounters. The book focuses on the present, St. Mary's world. Poe and Alaric are spending the summer in St. Mary's; at this point in time their relationship is somewhat complicated. There seems to be an animosity between Poe & Alaric. But a lot can happen in the summer. To see their relationship progress from the prologue to the epilogue was touching. Their story is not always easy; it's complex and beautiful.
I loved Alaric and Poe as a couple, but I also loved their individual characters. Poe is such a rebel, and I loved that. She really goes after what she wants, and also has one of the biggest hearts. In all definitions, Poe is really a diva and wildcat with the biggest soul. Poe will do everything for the people she loves, and she's literally the best friend you could ever wish for. Alaric, oh man where do I begin? I want to fangirl about him all day. Alaric is one of the most intelligent men out there, and there more behind the renaissance man exterior. I loved that we finally got to see his POV, and read about his feelings. Alaric was one of the main highlights of the book for me. No one writes book-boyfriends like SAK does, and Alaric was just perfect. The Renaissance professor and his troublemaker diva.
The epilogue was so beautiful. Only SAK can make me feel so happy and want to cry of nostalgia at the same time. Poe and Alaric got the ending they deserved, but I don't want to say it was an ending. This epilogue was a "I see you later" because I really want to get crumbs of St. Mary's World. ALSO, SEEING ONE OF MY FAV COUPLES MAKE AN APPEARANCE *cries of joy*. Thank you SAK, and cheers
June 15, 2022
★4.75 wicked stars★
Age gap bearing Saffron’s trademark, add a lot of angst a good dose of enemies to lovers and you have a heady cocktail of forbidden and hot steamy moments. The lyrical writing, the beautifully built plot, wonderful characters that develop and grow throughout the story will keep you glued to the pages, and will stay with you long after the words: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅
~𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨𝒏 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏-𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨 𝒉𝒐𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏, 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒚, 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘~
This is my favourite instalment out of this heart throbbing series. I like Poe with her belligerent provoking attitude. She’s still a sunshine heroine like all her hellion friends but she’s also has an edginess to her. She grew up without a mother and this lack of affection shows in her attention seeking modus operandi. What could be a potentially deal breaker in making an heroine endearing, is expertly handled by the author. And I, pretty much like Alaric, couldn’t help but be a victim of Poe’s charming havoc wrecking ways.
~"𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏"
"𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕"~
Alaric Marshall bears all the trademark traits of a tortured hero, the way only Saffron knows how to paint. He harbours secrets, berates himself continuously, carrying his guilt around and stopping himself from being free, from being himself. I felt his pain and sorrow, I wanted to soothe and shout at him to just go for what he deserves. On top of drawing such fascinating male, our authors, who by the way looks so innocent and sweet, gave him such a filthy mouth my kindle caught fire multiple times.
~𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒚~
It was a pleasure to finally read Poe and Alaric’s story, I think it was also perfectly timed, right at the end of this series, like a good wine it needed to decant to come to full maturity. I also enjoyed meeting again all the rebels of St Mary’s. I’m looking forward to exploring what’s next on the agenda and enter new mischievous worlds.
Age gap bearing Saffron’s trademark, add a lot of angst a good dose of enemies to lovers and you have a heady cocktail of forbidden and hot steamy moments. The lyrical writing, the beautifully built plot, wonderful characters that develop and grow throughout the story will keep you glued to the pages, and will stay with you long after the words: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅
~𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨𝒏 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏-𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨 𝒉𝒐𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏, 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒚, 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘~
This is my favourite instalment out of this heart throbbing series. I like Poe with her belligerent provoking attitude. She’s still a sunshine heroine like all her hellion friends but she’s also has an edginess to her. She grew up without a mother and this lack of affection shows in her attention seeking modus operandi. What could be a potentially deal breaker in making an heroine endearing, is expertly handled by the author. And I, pretty much like Alaric, couldn’t help but be a victim of Poe’s charming havoc wrecking ways.
~"𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏"
"𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕"~
Alaric Marshall bears all the trademark traits of a tortured hero, the way only Saffron knows how to paint. He harbours secrets, berates himself continuously, carrying his guilt around and stopping himself from being free, from being himself. I felt his pain and sorrow, I wanted to soothe and shout at him to just go for what he deserves. On top of drawing such fascinating male, our authors, who by the way looks so innocent and sweet, gave him such a filthy mouth my kindle caught fire multiple times.
~𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒚~
It was a pleasure to finally read Poe and Alaric’s story, I think it was also perfectly timed, right at the end of this series, like a good wine it needed to decant to come to full maturity. I also enjoyed meeting again all the rebels of St Mary’s. I’m looking forward to exploring what’s next on the agenda and enter new mischievous worlds.
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