Holy angst, Leila, you made me feel all the feels with this second installment in The Rapture series, and I don't even know what to do with myself right now 😭 I think I am going to have to take in a fluffy romcom now while I come down from all the emoting I'm doing. Book 2 focuses on the growing relationship of Ophelia and Storm, the mysterious MC President that we met in the later part of Book 1 of the series, Ricochet.
This second entry begins shortly after the end of Ricochet, with Ophelia now staying with Storm's MC, the Sons of Hades. Ophelia's immaturity, insecurities, and inability to trust anything or anyone are true hallmarks of this installment. Ophelia has never had the pure and unadulterated relationships she begins to grow here, and she struggles with how to handle these interactions and trust that this new "family" has her back. Jumping to conclusions increasingly leads her to more and more difficult situations, culminating in a masterfully devastating cliffhanger. I really loved Ophelia's character in Ricochet, so her actions in this installment completely left me frustrated, and I'm not sure I'm loving her quite so much anymore. About halfway through the book, she comes to the realization that her "emotional maturity resembled more to that of a sixteen-year-old teenager than a twenty-four-year-old woman," but this lightbulb moment unfortunately does not stop her from making a rash decision that leads to the heartstopping disaster that is the last chapter.
I'll be honest and tell you I'm super biased and I'm #teamstorm all day long. That's not to say that Storm is not without his own faults. We get a lot of insight into what has shaped Storm into the man he is today, and his secrets are monumental in how the ending of this book plays out. He has never had a healthy romantic relationship with a female, and his inexperience in navigating one with Ophelia is problematic. He wants her to be his queen, but just doesn't know how to trust her enough to hold his secrets safe or give him the grace he needs. I'm sure you'll see it coming that this secretive approach is an accelerant to all her insecurities.
Leila's prose is so expressive, and I was happy to see that there were a lot less jumps back and forth in time in this installment compared to Ricochet. Her storyline flowed better for me this time around. The somewhat softer, AKA less "dark" of a dark romance, installment we get here really mirrors the more mature relationship we see Ophelia and Storm growing as compared to the childhood sweethearts type love she shared with Kieran. Her life has been so chaotic, and her survival skills are top-notch, but I think the family aspect the MC shows here is what she needs to move on from being just an assassin for the Syndicate. I'm so excited to see how Book 3 wraps up Ophelia's story.
Character development: 5/5
Dark elements: 4/5
Steamy scenes: 5/5
Overall storyline: 5/5
Triggers: Definitely