A Twisted Love Story

Oh my goodness. I don’t even know where to start with this one. I have to hand it to Samantha Downing - she knows how to write dysfunctional, delusional characters like nobody else!

Ivy and Wes. Wes and Ivy. They’re together. They’re not. They fight. They make up. They push each other’s buttons. They can’t live without each other. Ten years on a toxic merry-go-round that neither one ever tires of …

Until Ivy calls the police. She says someone’s stalking her and she offers evidence pointing to one person: Wes, of course. Now Detective Karen Colglazier of the Sex Crimes Unit has her laser focus set on him and saving “poor” Ivy from danger. Ivy just wanted Wes’ attention again, during one of their many break-ups, but now things just got complicated.

Ivy has unintentionally opened Pandora’s Box, and this time neither she nor Wes can shut it. Detective Colglazier takes her job of protecting victims very seriously, and now she’s making connections to a tragic event from seven years ago that Ivy and Wes thought was well in the past. We all know the past can come back to haunt you!

If you think Wes and Ivy are a mess, add in Ivy’s overprotective best friend Heath, a snooping assistant named Bianca, a self-aware podcaster named Milo and a few others and you really have one big toxic stew!

What I liked? Downing’s reliably black humor is on full display in this. She writes truly unlikeable characters then somehow worms them into your heart by the end. Ivy and Wes make dysfunctional people look completely normal by comparison with their endless headgames, but by the end I was still rooting for them! Go figure. The short chapters moved the story along quickly, and she kept me hooked the entire book wondering who was really playing who.

What didn’t work as well for me? The style of writing for this felt a little more clinical and true-crime-ish than that of some of her other books, and the constant POV and story shifts made it harder to get into the flow of the story. The rapid on-off nature of Ivy and Wes’ relationship was intentional but tiring at times. There were a couple nice reveals, but no big AHA! moments for me. Be warned: you don’t just need to suspend disbelief … you kinda need to murder it!

I still recommend this - Downing always delivers the fun, even if this wasn’t my favorite of hers!

★★★ ½

Thanks to Berkley Publishing, NetGalley and author Samantha Downing for this DRC to honestly review. It’s out now!