Single Sundays: Things I Wanted to Say (But Never Did) by Monica Murphy

Single Sundays: While this blog may be focused on reviewing book series as a whole, we can’t forget about the good ole’ standalone novel! On Sundays, I will review a novel that is considered to be a standalone novel. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Things I Wanted to Say (But Never Did) (from Goodreads):
Whit Lancaster burst into my life like a storm. Dark and thunderous, furious and fierce. Cold, heartless and devastatingly beautiful, like the statues in our prep school gardens. The school with his family name on the sign. He can do no wrong here. This is his domain.

He’s a menace on campus. Adored and feared. Hated and respected. His taunting words carve into my skin, shredding me to ribbons. Yet his intense gaze scorches my blood, fills me with a longing I don’t understand.

When I stumble upon him one night alone, I find him broken. Bleeding. My instincts scream to leave and let him suffer, but I can’t. I sneak him into my room. Clean him up. Fall for his lies. Let him possess every single part of me until I’m the one left a gasping, broken mess.

When he leaves me alone in the dead of night, he takes my journal with him.

Now he knows all my secrets. My hate. My truth. And he promises to use my words against me. I’ll be ruined if my darkest secret gets out.

That’s when I strike a bargain with the devil.

I’ll let Whit Lancaster ruin me behind closed doors instead.

SERIESous’ Top Picks: Favourite Author
Series:

There is a spinoff standalone A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime.

Author: Monica Murphy
Genre: Young Adult / New Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Erotica, Dark
Heat Rating: Smokin’ (extremely *spicy YA*) | (Kink: mild)
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Date: July 29, 2021
Source & Format: Author–eARC

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

This is the first standalone I’ve read from Monica Murphy in awhile. I’ve mostly been reading her series The Callahans and The College Years. But I knew that this was a particular passion project of hers and I love a good hate-to-love you romance so I was excited to start this.

The Concept:

I felt a little odd putting the genre type as “Erotica” in the same line as “Young Adult” but I feel like I need to include it so people know that they are expecting. This book is just plain steamy—and it would still be steamy even if the characters were older. There is a lot of sex and it is a long book so expect it to be pretty frequent. If reading about young adults having sex bothers you, don’t pick this up. I felt like this book was more reminiscent of Monica’s adult series The Fowler Sisters works than her YA/NA books in terms of sexual content.

The Plot:

I’ve attempted a few High School Bully Romances but this was the first one I really, really enjoyed. The angst, the passion, the chemistry — it’s all there and it is delicious. This is like a good teen soap opera if you ask me where you want the two leads to just get together already!

While some plot points were predictable, there are a few twists along the way to keep you interested. This book is super long page-count-wise but I never really got bored with it. Some of the plot points get a little lost I think at times (like the whole journal thing) but I think that’s because the story focuses more on the romance and passion. But I never really minded honestly, I was there for the romance.

The Characters:

Summer has to be the first heroine in this high-school-bully-romance trend that I’ve read who actually fights back and holds her ground. But she knows when to surrender and accepts that. I found she never waivered in her convictions and I really appreciated that. I struggled with some of her character background and how it was dealt with but I really did enjoy her character’s journey.

Whit: I think you love to hate him. We don’t get as many chapters from him which I think works to the story’s advantage. He’s a mysterious asshole but those brief glimpses we get inside his brain propel the story forward. He really does have the best character development of the two.

The Romance:

Like I said above, this is pretty steamy and not always in a vanilla way either. But I liked how we explored the submissive/dominate side of their relationship and seeing how that can evolve over time. A lot of the time in romances, those character traits are long established in one of our leads so it was an interesting dynamic seeing it blossom in both our leads and how they try to understand it.

I was really addicted to watching these two fall in love. They are the definition of forbidden romance, which makes it all the sweeter when they give in.

My Rating: 5/5

If you are a fan of the high-school-bully romance and/or can accept the steamy sexual content, I think you’ll enjoy this. But if you struggle with sexual content in your YA/New Adult novels, look elsewhere. I’m hoping that there will be a spin-off at some point because I loved this world so much!

Read if You Like: steamy reads, forbidden romance
Avoid if You: dislike erotica