Curved Horizon picks up a few weeks after the conclusion of Fortitude Smashed with Daisy Yuen and Chelsea Cavanaugh, whose Camellia Clocks draw close to timing out.

Navigating the in’s and out’s of love is hard enough as strangers destined to be soul mates and proves even more complicated when Daisy shares ugly, dark secrets that linger in her and Aiden’s past.

Meanwhile, Shannon and Aiden continue to explore their own new relationship. With Fall comes an unforgettable one year anniversary, but when Shannon suffers a life-threatening incident on the job, Chelsea, Daisy, and Aiden must find a way to let go of their pasts to make room for their futures.

Goodreads | Interlude Press | Amazon
Release Date: March 8th
Also check out Annie’s review for Fortitude Smashed and our character interviews with Aiden & Shannon

*A copy of this was provided via NetGalley

5 stars!

Just like the first book in the series, Fortitude Smashed, Curved Horizon immediately sucked me in.
Curved Horizon is an amazingly layered story with multifaceted (main and side) characters. I loved every second I spent with them and was sad when I had read the last page. Hopefully there will be more in this universe!

Similar to Aiden and Shannon, the start of Daisy’s and Chelsea’s relationship wasn’t all hearts and roses. Both of them never expected to be each other’s Rose Road, so when they time out they’re both surprised to say the least. This is where the book really shined for me: the way Brooke handled the newness of this changed relationship from friends to soul mates, how they slowly fell in love and together built a romantic relationship. The issues and insecurities both characters felt was well-written and fleshed-out without being a tool to create drama.

Both Chelsea and Daisy aren’t really ready for a relationship at the beginning of Curved Horizon, but together they work through things, build trust and learn to confide in each other – and though all of that fall in love. This made their happy ending even sweeter. I loved the progress of their relationship so much.

We got to know both characters a bit in Fortitude Smashed, but in Curved Horizon we see another layer to each of the characters. Mostly – of course – Chelsea and Daisy, because they (and their story) are the main focus of this book. As well, Shannon and Aiden each revealed new things about themselves.
I love how Brooke explored each of the characters: their ambitions, their pasts and plans for the future but most of all the feelings between each of them – varying from friendship to romantic love. Brooke doesn’t shy away from diving deeper into some of the character’s not so pretty pasts. They deftly create a story that is so layered, with every character so deeply entwined in each others lives, that just leaves you with a feeling of admiration. I wished they were real and I could be part of that group of friends.
They also do not shy away to put their characters (and the readers equally) through the wringer. (As with Fortitude Smashed I’d strongly advise you to pay attention to the content warnings for this book.)

One thing that is truly special to me is how Brooke wrote Daisy’s demisexuality. The whole scene of Daisy coming out to Chelsea, and Chelsea’s reaction had me in tears – and I’m tearing up right now writing this – because it was just so beautiful and done so wonderfully. I might have not particularly liked Chelsea during the first half of Fortitude Smashed, but in that moment she absolutely became my favorite. And it’s not just that scene, but throughout the book Chelsea constantly checks in with Daisy and explicitly asks for consent. This made my heart soar and I can’t describe how amazing that felt. (Too bad she’s not real – and already taken! – because I could easily fall in love with her.)

Of course I also loved that I could spent time again with my favourite (retired) art thief and his cop boyfriend. Each of them get a couple of chapters in the book and I really enjoyed to see how they were doing a couple of months into their relationship from their point of view.

We already go a bit of information regarding the Rose Roads and how they work in Fortitude Smashed, but there were still things to explore in Curved Horizon and I really liked how Brooke included tiny tidbits here and there.

I really hope that Javi and his partners will get their own story one day, because of all the minor characters he was easily my fave. I really enjoyed each scene he was in and if we ever get more of him I’ll be the first in line. I mean… poly soul mates! How could I not love that? I really would love to see how having two Rose Roads works close up.

If you’ve read and loved Fortitude Smashed you’ll like this one too!

After fleshing out a multitude of fantastical creatures as a special effects makeup professional, Taylor turned her imagination back to her true love—books. When she’s not nestled in a blanket typing away on her laptop, she can be found haunting the local bookstore with a cup of tea, planning her next adventure, and fawning over baby animals.

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Genre: Contemporary Genre: Sci-Fi Orientation: Asexual (+ace-spec) Orientation: Bisexual Pairing: F/F Publisher: Interlude Press Review Tag: Friends to Lovers Tag: Own-Voices Tag: Part of a series Tag: Slow Burn Tag: Soulmates Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault Camellia Clock Cycle Curved Horizon Taylor Brooke