I read an ARC for the first book in this duology back in March and made a note to myself to keep an eye out for the conclusion. Well, Shattered Hearts by Tina Spencer is finally here and honestly? It was a satisfying ending, but didn’t surpass anything that was originally set up.
The story picks up immediately after Shattered Obsession ended, with Zoe learning that Dominik is the mystery man she’d met at a kink masquerade. She freaks out, understandably, and calls it quits. Dominik refuses to accept this and does everything he can to get her back. Maybe for about the first 10 or 15%, he was deliciously unhinged, just going completely over the top in trying to win Zoe back. After that, it tends to simply meander with Zoe giving in way too quickly/easily.
Where one of my main complaints with the first book was the lack of spice, there is an overabundance of it with the finale. It feels like a good 60% was just sex, which was well written and pretty hot, but threw the balance off for the story. I wish they’d been sprinkled better between both books so that it kept pace with the plot, which seemed to fall by the wayside the further in we got. You’d wonder okay, he got the girl, what is left? Well, I guess tying up other loose ends even if it doesn’t make sense.
Overall, I think the Hudson Yards duology gets 4 stars, but individually both Shattered Obsession and Shattered Hearts by Tina Spencer get 3.5. There’s balance issues between plot and spice, but if you’re interested in hot, sexy writing, you’ll definitely enjoy this.
Featured Kinks: breathplay, dp, edging, primal
