A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I wasn’t sure what to expect from A Twisted Love Story after seeing a few mixed reviews. For me it was a fun and engaging Domestic Drama, which offered up quite a bit of food for thought that I wasn’t necessarily anticipating.
Downing was able to draw me in and keep my attention, which is pretty tough to do during the holiday season!
This story focuses on Wes and Ivy, whose contentious romance has nevertheless lasted for a decade.
Their on-again, off-again nature may seem toxic to outsiders, but for them, it is their deep, passionate love for one another that pushes them to extremes at times.
Ivy messes up though and ends up contacting the wrong outsider and drawing her attention to their relationship. Unfortunately, the new woman in their life is a detective and Wes and Ivy have something they’re desperate to hide.
As Detective Karen Colglazier begins to circle the couple like a shark, the heat ramps up and they start feeling serious pressure. It’s a classic game of cat-and-mouse as Ivy and Wes scramble to get out from under the Detective’s scrutiny.
When I first began this story, I hadn’t read the full synopsis. Samantha Downing’s name was enough to attract me to the book. As it was first kicking off, we’re getting a lot of info regarding Ivy, Wes and their relationship. I was curious how it was going to gain intensity, or suspense, from that set-up.
It soon became clear Downing had a plan and I just needed to relax into it. She definitely pulled it off in the end.
I found this story to be compelling and highly readable. While I would tamper your expectations as far as thrills go, I think as a character exploration and twisted romance, this one is extremely well-paced and plotted.
I may be reading too much into it, but it made me think a lot about assumptions. We all make assumptions, even if unintentional, a lot of time based on our own experiences.
We’ve all heard of, or even know of, relationships like Wes and Ivy’s. I enjoyed watching the side characters interacting with them and discussing their relationship with them.
Each of these friends and family members it seemed felt they knew what was best, but I don’t feel like any of them were ever truly spot on with this couple.
Most interesting to me was the Detective’s perspective. She was definitely making assumptions about them, which I felt were incorrect, but then things would happen that would make me second-guess my own interpretation. It was super enjoyable and engaging.
I would recommend this story to people who enjoy dramatic, possibly OTT-Domestic Dramas. This title says it all, this is a twisted love story. That’s exactly what it is.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is only my second Downing novel, but I’m excited to pick up more!