For eight months I’ve been deep under cover as a special operator in the Army. On the plane ride home, all I want is a hot shower and a long sleep. But a Dear John text message leaves me stranded. I need a ride and a place to stay, and the pretty stewardess is more than willing.
Della
It’s supposed to be a simple trade—the passenger in seat 34B for my sister. But the sexy soldier is more than I can handle in all the best ways. He trusts me, but I can’t save him. No one can. Sometimes trouble has a way of following you home.
On the Way Home is a dark new adult romance intended for readers over eighteen.
3.5 Stars
Monsters came in all shapes and sizes. They wore custom designer suits and stewardess uniforms. They gave you a job as a stripper or went down on you to help you sleep, but those were just part of the lure. Because when you had learned to trust the monster, when you let your guard down, that’s when you got eaten.
This was my first book by Skye Warren, so I really wasn’t sure exactly what I would be going into. All I knew is that when I read that blurb, I knew I had to read this book. I’m a big fan of Dark Romance, and this sounded EXACTLY up my alley. Was it everything I thought it would be? Well….almost. Firstly, I can’t really say it was all that dark. It was more gritty. That’s not a bad thing at all, but still worth a mention.
Clint is returning home after 8 months of working deep under cover as a special operator in the Army. He doesn’t exactly have much to come back to since he received a Dear John text from his live-in girlfriend while still deployed. But he has high hopes that maybe they could still work it out…
Only to come home to see all his things packed up and to find out that she’s been cheating on him. Oh and did I mention that she’s trying to kick him out of his own place? Poor guy just can’t seem to get a break.
Luckily (or not quite so for Clint), the beautiful stewardess that caught his eye on the plane comes to his rescue.
Della is not at all what she appears to be, and her intentions towards Clint are anything but innocent. She’s supposed to be doing a job, a simple trade; Clint for her sister. But her plan gets a whole lot more complicated when she begins to have feelings for the sexy soldier.
This book could have easily been a 5 star read for me, if not for a few things…
The insta-love angle
I had a tough time understanding the almost immediate connection these two share. I mean, we go from them barely exchanging a few words on a plane to him staying at her place and fucking like bunnies…
Then Clint goes and shares confidential information from his deployment with her even though he has doubts about who she really is and the secrets she hides. Good job there, Mr. Undercover Man. But I suppose that fits his character.
Clint’s submissive nature in bed. This is NOT a BDSM book, not at all, but Clint is most definitely the submissive partner in bed. That’s certainly not quite my cuppa, so I had a tough time with this one.
He had some Alpha tendencies, but sadly they pretty much got lost within all the time he submitted to Della’s MUCH more aggressive sexual nature. Though, oddly enough, it was still pretty damn hot…even if it isn’t quite my cuppa.
The sex
To be fair, I feel like I should warn readers that this book contains (highlight to view spoiler)pegging[Pegging (hide spoiler)].(Spoiler) Yes. (view spoiler)pegging.(Spoiler)As in (view spoiler)Della sporting a strap on and… holy strap on butt sex, batman! (spoiler)
It fits the book and the story, HOWEVER, it is a tad out of my comfort zone. I don’t have a huge problem with it, and it was written pretty damn hot, but it’s not a preference of mine in books.
The suspense part of the story is really what won me over. I spent a large part of the book on pins and needles just waiting for that other shoe to drop.
I really enjoyed the twist that Skye Warren added in the end. I did not see that coming at all. I think that was the very last thing I expected to happen. Della’s character was a very intriguing one to me, too. The things that she’s been through are terrible, but she had this tough core to her that I really liked. You know what she has to do, and you want to hate her for it, but yet your heart breaks for her all the same.
I found it to be more an erotic suspense than dark, but that may be because I’ve been pretty desensitized to Dark Romance, so it takes a LOT for me to label it that genre. There were dark elements here, but not many. I’d say this was more gritty than dark. At least in my opinion.
Ultimately did I enjoy this book? Yes.
Is it something that I would have read had I known in advance about Clint’s sexual submissiveness? Probably not.
Am I glad I read it? Surprisingly, yes.
Is it something I see myself re-reading in the future? Probably not
Writing style: Dual First Person POV
Skye Warren writes unapologetic erotica, including power play or erotic pain and sometimes dubious consent. There’s struggle in the sex. There’s pain in the relationships. Her books are raw, sexual and perversely romantic.
I like fighting, and I like fucking. I don’t care much for thinking.
She has no idea that every time I’m within three feet of her my penis perks up like a meerkat when it hears a noise. It’s fucking Meerkat Manor in my pants.
