So I’m not sure how I ended up with a bunch of tokens for Amazon Vella, but when I saw snippets of Forbidden Skye by Alex Crane on BookTok, I decided to use them all to read the first installment. While I loved the story and picked it up because I rarely see Irish mob romances, I don’t think I will ever go the Vella route again.
Now, I loved the characters. I think that was the most compelling thing Forbidden Skye had. While worldbuilding faltered and the action was mid at best, the characters really propelled the story forward. Our main male character, Van, is an heirling to his Irish mob family and has been desperately in love with his best friend’s little sister since childhood. Skye has loved Van just as long. But see, here’s the problem. Van is a dumb boy. An idiot, if you will. He sleeps with Skye, realizes what he’s done, freaks out, and leaves. Just what every girl wants for her first time, right? Still, I love him because he’s so dumb it’s almost like he’s not smart enough to have bad intentions. Skye, meanwhile, pined for him after he left, but then decided to move on with her life. It’s so refreshing to have an FMC that is clever and confident in herself. That Skye knows she loves him but knows she deserves better is so good to see.
The ending seemed to come out of nowhere and that’s where I think the story faltered. It’s almost like plot was crammed in after the fact and things were attempted to be linked together that didn’t need to be. This seems most likely due to this being released as an ongoing story on Vella. I would have loved to see how the story would have been plotted if this were planned first as a traditional novella. Either way, it was still enjoyable.
Forbidden Skye by Alex Crane is a fast romance read with enjoyable characters. I think if you have tokens for Amazon Vella, or have Kindle Unlimited, you should definitely give this a read! If you’ll be paying out of pocket, however, you may want to think twice.
