Possessive Heart
By: Brighton Walsh
Series:ย Starlight Coveย
Book # in Series:ย 5 of 6
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Trope: Forbidden love, Older Brother’s Best Friend, second chance
Publisher: Bright Publishing LLC
Publication Date: February 1st, 2024
My Rating: 3 ยฝ Stars
My Reading Format: ARC Received From Author For An Honest Review
Synopsis:
Iโm her brotherโs best friend, and for the past ten years, Iโve also been Addison McKenzieโs dirty little secret.
My pro-hockey player lifestyle kept me from her, but I thought we had a good thing going. Burning up the sheets whenever I visited home worked well for us.
Or so I thought.
When a season-ending injury sends me back to Starlight Cove, I find out she thinks of me as nothing more than a mistake.
Sheโs trying her hardest to ignore my presence, but being snowed in together is making that difficult.
So is sharing a bed.
Old habits die hard, and itโs no surprise we fall right back into each other. Undeniable chemistry was never our problem, though. Making it last in the real world was.
But Iโve been in love with Addison for years. And I have no intention of giving up on us now.
Possessive Heart by Brighton Walsh is the fifth book in the Starlight Cove series. I was so intrigued by this book, I requested an arc before even knowing it was part of a series. If you followed my past reviews, you already know, I rarely start a book out of series order. So, take it from me, Addison and Chase’s forbidden romance can be read as a standalone. I will warn you allโฆyou may want to marathon the series after reading this novel.
Addison has lived her life under the protective thumb of her older brothers. So when she fell for one of her brothers best friend’s, she knew that relationship would have to remain In the darkโฆ A few years of spicy sexy time with a Hockey stud all comes screeching to a halt when he who shall not be named suddenly ghosts herโฆ..ย
Now, Hockey Hero Chase Lockhart is back in Starlight Cove and he’ll do everything in his power to win back the woman who ghosted him a year ago. One year of messaging her daily and receiving nothing Is about to come to a screeching halt. He has four months of rehabilitating his knee and he’ll spend that time winning back the woman his heart was made for. And believe me when I say, she doesn’t make winning her heart back easy for him.
My Thoughts:
Iโve been making it a mission of mine, this year, to read more new-to-me authors. After reading the blurb for Possessive Heart, I knew I needed to get this book in my hands as soon as possible. The tropes lined up with tropes that I absolutely adore such as, Older Brotherโs Best Friend, Forbidden Love, Secret Relationship, Hockey Heartthrob Hero, and Small Town Romance. All of these tropes put together tend to lead towards an angsty tale of undeniable love. Although the angst levels were low with this novel, the undeniable love aspect was there! Addison and Chaseโs romance had me wanting to go back and marathon this entire series, and someday I will do just that.
Chase Lockhart is what kept me coming back for more! This man is exactly how I like my book boyfriend, sweet to his mama and spicy with his woman! I loved the fact that Chase is willing to fight, at all costs, for what he wants in life. His dreams used to be to keep playing profession hockey, but throughout this novel his dreams slowly start to evolve into something more. I loved the moment of epiphany that Chase had in regards to where he saw his life five years from now. My heart loved this man inside and out!!
And then we have Addison McKenzie. My thoughts and likes about this character differed from page to page. I loved her independence, but the whining really got to me. She brought her families resort back to life with practically no help from her brothers. Iโd take that as an accomplishment and something to be proud of, but it felt like she took it as a tool to hold over her brotherโs head. I was a little bit annoyed by her as an independent person. As for the romance aspect, I loved her bleeding heart and her weariness when it came to Chase coming back in the picture. I also loved watching her slowly let Chase back in to her heart. I loved witnessing their love come back to life and grow with each passing day.ย
I gave Possessive Heart by Brighton Walsh a 3 ยฝ star rating for a few reasons. Addisonโs whining was a big part. But I also felt like I wanted more where a certain outside member of the McKenzie family is concerned. Thereโs something about a moment of redemption that pulls at my heartstrings and i really wanted Addison to have that special moment. This person was mentioned and then was brushed under the table, never to be mentioned againโฆ. HMMMโฆ maybe this is why we should never read books in a series out of order. After I complete the series, Iโll come back and update my rating if anything changes with this moment. But as for right now, I wanted that moment for addison!
Overall, if you love your romance novels with a lot of spice, this may just be the one for you. I enjoyed the romance aspect, but I wanted more from other aspects of this novel. Chase Lockhart is most definitely going to be a hard character to top! I loved this manโs vibes! I can already assume heโll be my favorite throughout this series! We shall see!!
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Peace Love and Happy Reading,
I don’t think you would have given this 3.5 stars had you read the entire series. There is a lot of talk about the dad and something big happened in the last book for things to be the way they are now. There is a lot of history there. Redemption for him might not be in the cards for this family unless things truly work out where he is now. And I would say Addison whines a lot because she’s the only girl and she’s usually having to do everything. I didn’t really notice it. Maybe because of what I expected from the book. I’m glad you enjoyed it for the most part! Maybe a re-read after you read the first 4 books to see if your thoughts change?
I just added my fifth and final series to my Serious about Series challenge. I loved the writing style and the overall vibes. I do think you may be right about my opinion changing once I read the first four books in the series. I’ll definitely be getting to them soon. I’m really feeling the need to figure out the dad situation in this novel. I felt like I was out of the loop since the moment he was mentioned, and now I see why (LOL). I wasn’t going to post my review or my thoughts because I am jumping into the middle of the series head first. But then I saw this is labeled as a standalone within an interconnected series. This is important for people to realize, when you jump head first in the middle of a series, you may not have the same opinion as someone who read the series in the publishing order. It’s really interesting how that seems to work. We miss out on so much from these interconnected series if reading based on tropes. But given my love for this author’s writing style, I’ll definitely be jumping into this series. The books are already loaded up on my kindle waiting for me to finish my ARC reading list.
I think she kind of alluded to what happened last book in this one with the author brother’s wife. It was a quick mention, but it gave a quick snapshot of why he was not allowed back to the cottage after that but didn’t spoil things if people hadn’t read the books.
I caught on to the driving under the influence situation that was mentioned. And I caught the cold wave that rushed over the brother’s when the dad was mentioned. But, I also felt a vibe from Addison, almost like she wanted to help him through his demons and battle. And the brother’s weren’t allowing that to happen. Was I wrong? this is what really had me thinking, why the heck did I start a novel in the middle of a series… This is what I get! A mountain of confusion swirling around in my head (LOL)
You picked up on guilt she felt that they kicked him out for good reasons but mostly what happened with the girl from the last book and Addison’s hope that he would get better because he is her father. She let it go because she knew her brothers were right. She was angrier they were shielding her and not letting her in on what they had heard. It definitely would have made more sense if you had read the previous books. I actually found the way it was all mentioned and dealt with in this book appropriate, but I can see how you were left wondering.
OH! I really need to read this series! Sounds so intense!!