I don’t need to tell you he didn’t love her because he has cheated on her for 15 years or he has done nothing but criticize her and ignore her and humiliate her and this is never love. Okay, that makes this book sound like a tough hang, and it's not at all. My loves, Purity is so much fun!! It's full of some of my favorite tropes: I would have liked some balance and maybe more focus on the actual couple rather than getting away from purity culture Then she make him wait until she feels ready and know for sure that he want to be with her, because she is tired of waiting him to be ready to date her for years. This behavior is not normal of an angry person who feels betrayed by the love of his life. A normal person would be angry, would go away, shout, would also do wrong things but it will always be in a definite short period of time.

some days later, after the hero went TikTok - almost- with a video where he cries and asks for her forgiveness, she decides to give him another chance. Poor hero. With such a high maintenance girl I don’t know how happy he can be. His choice though. He had drunk sex with Sophia (who initiated it) in his and h's guest house on the anniversary of the day the h told him about her cheating

And similarly, with the h and her arc, the story started off at a point where she wanted to break out of that 'purity' mindset- but we didn't get to see ANY of the initial thought processes behind it, but were rather thrust into 'the big epiphany of her character'- which legitimately took away from the whole concept behind this book?

While some reviewers criticize the book for being too male-gaze-y, the sensitive portrayal of Cole’s protective nature towards Livy adds depth to their relationship. After Livvy and Cole have sex he says some of the worst shit and when they talk about it a few days later his dumb ass blames his parent's marriage and thinks he could never be her for his stupid actions and for sleeping around and bringing girls around her. Give me a break. Skylar Mason is a contemporary romance author who specializes in steamy, angst-filled stories that push boundaries. She enjoys exploring the complexities of human relationships, and her books often feature strong, independent heroines and alpha males who are not afraid to show their vulnerable side. Main Characters guess what happens when she goes public with this: in 30 days she will get rid of her virginity. All college frat boys bet who will be the one to do the deeds. The hero decides he will be that one. Not because he wants to win the bet, but because he has his personal reasons.The one thing this book has going for it is that it’s NOT a “she was a bet!” plot (even though, confusingly, it seems like it’s setting that up). From the start, the heroine is aware of the bet. So, there’s no angst or tension about “when will she find out?!” But….there’s also not much angst or stakes about anything! Early in the story, they mutually agree that he’ll be her choice to sleep with. So, the entire flow of the story is odd– no tension, and not much plot. Just the characters awkwardly orbiting around each other, after they’ve agreed that they’ll have sex. There is some alright dirty talk, but it feels sudden and random, like this story threw it in Just Because. A Jane Bennet style FMC whose tragic flaw is that she gives too much of herself and doesn't ask for what she wants. Watching her overcome this is SO satisfying! Normally, I’m not an ARC reader, but received this one through a FB giveaway. And was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it, particularly since I avoid anything NA like the plague. This duet is connected to the “Purity” series, since Whitney and Mark are Cole’s parents in “Purity”. To avoid wasting my time with such romances, I just prefer that the author disclose those tropes, and this author does so, so again, props. I readjusted my romance expectations. Because it feels a little unfair, I’ll preface I'm not downvoting it because it was a second chance or because of the cheating. Maybe the context of the cheating itself.

I didn't appreciate that it switched out one toxic way of thinking for another. It's okay that she chose to have sex before marriage. I make no judgement there. But, with the way that it is discussed, it makes it sound like any person who did grow up in purity culture and still choses to abstain from sex until marriage is somehow less evolved in their faith and still buying in to toxic thought processes. It isn't always about that. Sometimes it is a personal choice not bred from shame but instead a decision for oneself. It doesn't have to have anything to do with your "future spouse". You can make the decision for you and someone who does so should not be shamed and pitied for "buying into a toxic culture". I don’t know if I’ll read the second part, as usual I’m very disappointed with the degree of shallowness with which such a serious issue is dealt with. People abused for years simply don’t recover from their abuses with some months of dates, flowers and nice compliments. Years of the marriage from hell are not erased with such case. It’s an insult to women who are really abused in real life. They often never recover. I hope the author won’t do the mistake of believing that this can be amended. I felt like I was missing so much context for the heroine’s behavior. We’re told that her upbringing was toxic, but we’re not given specifics. She’s still got a good relationship with her parents AND her church and pastor. That seems bizarre, for somebody who says she has “religious trauma.” She uses that phrase! Wouldn’t she want to break away from people and institutions that gave her “trauma?!” I need to know why she feels that she has “religious trauma” but she somehow DOESN’T feel that it comes from her parents or her pastor. Who was telling her to do purity culture, then, if it wasn’t them? Or, if it WAS them, then why isn’t she breaking away from them? None of this makes sense! Right now I'm releasing the books a year apart because that's as fast as I can write. I'm still a new author so it takes me a long time to get the story where it needs to be, and I need a lot of help from extra eyes. If my speed improves then I will release the books as soon as they come. Ideally, I'd love it if I could release one every six months. Yet she married him. To add insult to injury she married him on the rebound! knowing he was obsessed with her. On top of THAT she had an emotional AND physical affair with the love of her life, her ex fiancé. FROM 7 YEARS AGO!!!!!Why? She SAYS it’s because she was depressed but she contradicts herself so I call bullshit. She knows how easy it was to be with the om so it was natural that they had an affair because “we [h and om] were engaged…”

Until they share this kiss that makes the entire world stand still, and Livvy begins wondering, maybe she’s misread him this whole time. If you can look past how double standards major man-ho H is and how it is brought up SO SO many times .. then it is okay book. h says to H when they are young, that she would date ONLY christian. And ofc H is ruled out. So they both pine for each other. Over the last year h has second thoughts... and decides she can date a NON christian. since he’s a weak and insecure boy he doesn’t tell her at once, but he tries to make her fall in love with him proposing six weeks of exclusive sex. How romantic.

Skyler Mason has written a story that shows just how your upbringing and parents influence can effect your life. The story shows the reality of teenagers and young adults, where sex is casual and loses every romantic meaning- which is quite sad, as it’s sad the emotionless way both characters talk about it. I might be older but where are those fluttering in your belly, where’s the heart ache and the shivering, those emotions that are obvious absent in these people who treat sex as basic corporal function. Honestly, this book just makes me feel seen. Seriously, reading this story was therapeutic because it reflects many of my own experiences being raised in an evangelical home and the journey I found myself on during college to unlearn those toxic beliefs and form my own. I honestly am so happy Skyler wrote this story because so many of us women have been negatively affected by purity culture and it’s lovely seeing Livvy embark on her own path to healing and discovery. 💕And then they on the beach getting sand up their butthole and other places but he slips his eggplant in and she's like OOP! And he's like OOPY-OOP! That be a hymen!