Title: Fierce
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Book Beautiful 4/16/22
Length:  155 pages
Series: Chicago Underground #3

Overview

I’m torn between what I want and what I need. Between the men in my past and the man by my side. Colin has tried to control me, to use me. He also guards me so fiercely my heart aches. But there’s no protection left for me. This is my battle, and I’ve already lost.

My Thoughts

We were left at a point in time where Allie had to choose the man she saw a future with or her own family and safety. It’s a tough position to be in, at her age (we forget that she’s still a teenager) and the fact that she’s got a child, that she’s got to make choices that aren’t the smartest and definitely not the most informed. She’s at Phillip’s house – Colin’s brother – looking for information to get a cop to leave her alone.

What happens next is a story that’s a bit of a roller coaster. We watch how Allie gives misinformation in the hopes that it’ll protect her and Colin. We watch how that backfires as he discovers her secrets, and we also see how Shelly gets them all into even more trouble. While it’s not Allie that puts the detectives and cops on the ‘right’ trail, it’s Allie who’s the one blamed for it and has to suffer the consequences.

There’s a trap laid, we watch the warehouse set on fire with people trapped inside and we watch a shootout happen when people don’t trust what side is what. Someone is left on the brink of death and relationships are torn apart.

What’s interesting here is that we see the dynamics shift quite a bit between characters and relationships that we didn’t know existed become something great, bonds that we thought were strong are broken and pasts become a bit of wisdom and window to the future. Add to that, there’s pain and torment since no one gets the ending that they were hoping for.

There’s romance for sure in this story, but it’s more about secrets and emotion – no one trusts one another and that means that we’re going to get a lot of angst. Which i suppose is appropriate given that Shelly and Allie really are like 18-19 years old and haven’t made the most sound choices in life. Not sure what the point of this story is, and I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily – there doesn’t always have to be a deeper meaning for things, but this one is a bit all over the place in discovering what the narrative is, what the motivation is and what the future outcome should be. So, enough deep and philosophical from me for now – I’m off to find something else to read. Enjoy!