Title: First
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Barnes & Nobles Press 3/31/20
Length:  206 Pages
Series:  Betrothed #5

Overview

Hades retired from the business. 

Now it’s just me. 

Look at me now… Bitter… angry… depressed. I resent my former friend so much, even hate the guy, but I’ve never been the same since he refused to forgive me. 

I meet a woman. She’s like all the others…beautiful, interesting, good at the fun stuff, but I don’t feel anything. 

One woman will love you for you, not your money or your power, but you’ll lose her. And once she’s gone…she’s gone. 

That gypsy wasn’t right about me too, right?

I’ve got trouble on my doorstep when the new Skull King shows up. He wants a cut of my business. 

Like he’s getting anything. This is all I have left. 

Once again I become swallowed by the underworld. 

Will I survive it?

My Thoughts

The way that Ms Sky has evolved this story has really taken us on a journey that makes it both necessary to love Hades and Sofia in order to push Damian forward but also hate them because this story wouldn’t happen if the struggle wasn’t real. What we have here in this first installment of Damian’s story is the path that his life takes now that he’s not in a good place with Hades and likely never will. Maddox is dead, so he’s now the sole owner of the drug business and yet at the same time he’s still partnering with Hades in their bank. Every day is worse for him and all he wants to do is drink himself into oblivion, that is until Anna walks into the bank one day to get his help and Damina’s life is changed forever.

While the summary above reminds me that Damian got a prophecy from the fortune teller years ago, that really doesn’t come up in the context of this story so we almost forget about it. Anna is newly divorced from a powerful man who ironically she wants nothing from aside from getting off of anything that’s attached to him (namely his bank accounts). at the same time she really wants to start a new life for herself which means she needs to clean our her only personal account so that she can buy an apartment. This transaction not only puts Anna fully on Damian’s radar, but that means that we get to be on the peripheral of another guy that we likely do not want to ross (Liam – her ex).

The story that we have from here is one that really results in a lot of pain and suffering. Damian still has lost his best friend, the only person that means anything to him and as a result, he’s also lost Sofia since there’s no way to co-exist there. At the same time, he’s found this attraction to Anna but he knows that he’s neither in a mindset in his life to be a good guy for any one single person, nor does his professional life lend itself to being safe for anyone else. Yet that doesn’t stop either of them from the attraction that’s shared and we have a wild ride come out of it. (Anna’s no stranger to danger given that her ex is a death fighter so the shock is minimal here).

We see positive momentum come from their relationship and then we see it crash and burn when tragedy hits. Some of our favs from other Penelope Sky series come back in this one, in the form of the Skull Kings where we get to see Heath in his role as King trying to take what he feels he’s owed by Damian. Pride of course gets in the way and what we have is a kidnapping, death and fear. Every time i think that we’re about to see something good happen, a truce with the Skull Kings, a change in the trajectory if the relationship with Hades and Damian, hope for romance, another curve ball is thrown and makes us realize that hope really is lost.

We end this first installment at a wedding and then we wonder what the future will bring. So on that note, i’m picking up the next book to see what happens next for everyone! Enjoy!