Irished by Heather Slade is the seventh book in The Invincibles series. It served as my introduction to the series. I accepted this book for review because of,
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The synopsis
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The assurance it worked as a standalone.
My introduction into this world revealed an interconnection between the stories in the series. Therefore, refuting the claim of it being a standalone. Divided into two parts, the story provided information on events occurring in the past and the present.
Part One
The events of this installment spanned a thirteen-year period. The reader learns of Paxon’s aka Irish work with the CIA and his many missions. This included his unauthorized mission involving finding the truth behind the murder of several undercover agents. To flush out the culprit, he went undercover as a double agent. However, the mission failed and the world, except for those privy to the details. branded him a traitor.
Flynn and her brothers grew up with their father, a cantankerous old man who made it his mission to make their lives a living hell. Bullied throughout her years at school because of her weight resulted in issues with low self-esteem. Although surrounded by her loving brothers, it did not compensate for her feelings of insecurity.
Part Two
The revelation of new information led to Irish re-entering protective custody. The ranch which Flynn and her brothers operate will be his place of safety. Flynn and Irish shared an instant mutual attraction. However, obstacles in the form of age difference, shackles of the past and the investigation threatened to douse the spark before it became a raging flame.
Information on Goodreads gave the impression this would be a sexy, edge of your seat suspenseful read, but I was misinformed. The story was missing the fast-paced, action packed and thrilling experience expected from this genre. It focused on the investigation, with less attention given to the development of the romance. This made it difficult to connect with them as a couple. They rarely spent time together and their romance developed in the last couple of chapters.
This installment featured most of the characters from the previous books. Although not a bad thing, keeping up with them proved challenging. Reading the previous books would have helped in this regard. Also, the couple from the previous book story ran simultaneously with the events of this installment. This took away most of the focus from the main couple.
Conclusion/Recommendation
Overall, an ok read, but it would be best if the series were read in order.
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Yeah I can see why you should start at the beginning thanks Nadene
You are welcome Debbie.
I find the best way to read a series is to sequentially binge them all at once – I get frustrated and forget too much in between if I read them as they come out.
Yes that is a good way to read a series. However, sometimes its not possible especially if an author takes years to publish the next book
Great review. It is good to know that the series needs to be read in the right author.
Thanks Tasha.
I’m sorry to read this book wasn’t as good as you’d hoped. And to bad it doesn’t really work as a standalone.
Yes, just one of those things. It does have potential.
Great review. Definitely sounds like this series should be read from Book 1.
Yes, this is one of those series that needs to be read from the beginning.
Sorry the book didn’t quite work out for you. I agree with books being read in order. I see lots of authors saying that their series doesn’t need to be but I always find the series more enjoyable if I do. Great review.
True, although there are some exceptions.
Oh, it’s frustrating to pick up a book and realize that you really needed to read the earlier books for it to work well. I especially hate it when I read the first book in a series only to learn that it is a spin-off and you really need to have read another full series to understand what is going on. I think that I would have wanted more romance.
Exactly, so annoying.
I’m always reading series out of order. sorry this one wasn’t better for you.
It still won’t deter me from reading books out of order.?
Heather Slade is a new-to-me author. This series definitely sounds like something I would enjoy.
If you do give it try I would be curious to see what you think of it.
I agree with you…it seems that rarely series books can standalone.
So true. A rare occurrence indeed,
Yeah, even though they claim it will work as a standalone, this deep into a series I always end up wishing I’d read the previous books to know all the players.
Yeah, I wish I had read the previous books first.
Sorry it didn’t work for you. Slow starts bug me as well.
Yea, me too.
Good to know that this one is not a good place to jump into the series and it’s tamer than you thought. I see CIA and I think thriller, too. 🙂
Yeah, I learnt the hard way.