Release Day Review: Forevermore by Kristen Callihan

Forevermore
(Darkest London #7)
Kristen Callihan
Release: June 28, 2016
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Miss Layla Starling, the young, beautiful, and extremely wealthy heiress, is the talk of London. Until now, she's managed to evade the marriage noose. Despite the fact that she is unfortunately American, she's received a staggering number of offers. And turned down every one.

St. John Evernight does not want to admit the relief he feels every time he hears that she has rejected one of her suitors. Which is unfair of him. Layla deserves to be happy. But he can not offer her happiness. He will never be normal, never be anything but a freak in her world. So St. John resolves to keep his distance, until he is recruited by the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals to guard Layla. For she is in grave danger, and he is about to learn the full extent of his powers.

Review by Rose Red:

Today is both a sad and glorious day. Good news is Forevermore is out and we finally get St. John's story! Sad news is that this is the last book in one of my favorite series. HOW IS IT OVER ALREADY? I am not ready to say goodbye to this world and these characters.

I don't know if I've said this recently but it is seriously hard to review the last book in a series without spoiling things. I enjoyed the hell out of this book but I did have some issues with it. Aside from the main plot that revolves around St. John and Layla, there are a couple of subplots, one involving Augustus and the other involving Archer. With all the major players from St. John's family making an appearance, we discover just how much Augustus has had a role in how each of their lives has played out. I loved that we finally learned more about Augustus. He's intrigued me since the first time he showed up.

I liked that everything tied together at the end, but the resolution felt too neat and convenient to me. The ending seemed to come out of left field. Maybe it wouldn't have if I'd been able to reread the previous books before reading this one. I'll be the first to admit that there may be quite a bit I've forgotten. That's my biggest complaint about this book but it didn't really affect how much I enjoyed the story and the romance overall. I was practically on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how everything would be resolved and read the whole thing in one sitting. I can honestly say that I didn't see the ending coming.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was St. John and Layla's relationship. They were childhood friends who were separated from each other in their teen years. There are a few flashbacks from when they were children to help show how their bond came into being. Most of their attachment to each other had already happened off page, but I really enjoyed how they interacted together. They loved each other as kids and never moved on. Unfortunately, a lot has happened since they were separated and they're different people. St. John feels like his past mistakes make him unworthy of love and this is only heightened by his family's abandonment of him after they discovered his tie to Mab. It really irritated me that his family didn't let him explain but immediately thought the worst of him. It made Layla's acceptance of him even more sweet.

My second and only complaint is that Holly and Will didn't have an appearance. It's a petty complaint but they're my favorite couple in the series. I'll always want more of them. One book wasn't nearly enough. The only other couple who didn't get page time was Adam and Eliza but it makes sense why they didn't after the events of Soulbound.

Forevermore is the last of the series and it was a solid ending. I can't stop myself from hoping that with how this book ended that we'll get more books in this world. Maybe a contemporary urban fantasy spin-off set 100-150 years later? I just want more stories in this universe, okay? I highly recommend this series to those who enjoy a combination of paranormal, historical, steampunk, and romance in their books. The Darkest London series is one of the best series out there for it!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

    1/2

  4.5 / 5 Stars

My reviews of other books in this series:
Fireflight by Kristen Callihan
RTFB: Darkest London by Kristen Callihan
Soulbound by Kristen Callihan

For more on Forevermore and the Darkest London series, including an excerpt and a chance to win a copy of the book, check out our blog tour stop.