The Sins of Desire: The Demons' Muse, Book 3

This is the slowest book in the series but still an enjoyable read and re-read. Lots of action happens towards the end but there’s A LOT of feelings talk for most of the beginning and middle. It’s worth it to push through.

Sia is something else. She takes a hit and just keeps on going allowing nothing to get in her way - except maybe herself occasionally. I love how she takes the power she's been given and turns into something completelyand uniquely her own. Not angelic. Not demonic. All Muse. She would be a good role model. I'm also extremely happy to see Nick working some of his issues out, and I hope that Luke finally takes the plunge that we already know he's going to take eventually.

This is really hard for me to rate. On one hand, I enjoyed a lot of the book. But I also spent a great deal of time getting frustrated with the characters and the author's overly embellished writing style.This is a really cool concept. I LOVE the idea of different planes of existence. I love the spin on angels and demons. I adore the male characters (especially Bel!). And I this the worldbuilding is fantastic.BUT. The first 30% or so of the book is more of Sia whining. She doesn't believe she can really be with all of them so she constantly doubts her actions and worlds. There were so many conversations between her and the legion where every single one of them assured her that it was okay to want them. It was seriously the same conversation rehashed over and over and over. I almost put the book down a dozen times because it was so annoying. This is actually a common problem with a lot of this author's work. She repeats things over and over. And it sucks to have to critique that because everything else is amazing. She builds these worlds that are just phenomenal. But then she ruins the effect by having these character rehash conversations again and again.Bottom line, this is an amazing book and I love the concept for this series. But if you were annoyed with Sia in the last book, then I suggest skimming the first 30% since it's more of the same. I'll definitely finish the series but I may take a break from this author afterwards.

So every main character in this series has grown in some way by the end of the book. Every main character also gets at least a tiny amount of attention so that we can learn them better. It was so lovely to see each character get closer to someone else in the main cast, and allows us to get closer to them as well.So the bad.We hear the same arguments SO MANY TIMES! It is realistic, no one would get over their preconceived fears and assumptions easily. That doesn't mean I want to read the same arguments over and over again in my escapist fantasy. But most of that is dealt with by the middle of the book. Not all of it, but after that it goes to different characters with similar, but different, worries and hesitations. Along with different arguments. That helped, a lot.The good.The dragons were more than they had appeared. Which doesn't mean it comes from nowhere, the mysteries have been hinted at. And dragons are always good, if done at least well.The characters are realistic, distinct, have their own internal hopes, dreams, and fears, and they are all consistent and remain internally correct. Even when you are talking about, say, Bel's hopes, fears and dreams, they are different than Sia's and they are handled, discussed, and treated differently. This is super important to me, so if it is something you care about it is handled well here.I recommend the whole series so far. Can't wait to know if who I suspect certain figures to be is really who they are.

Ill be honest, I've been on a bit of a reading-attention-span slump. I start reading a book, and even books I've been eager for release I just... Can't finish them. There's some little thing that becomes too frustrating to finish. Or I'm not totally invested in the characters. Any number of petty reasons.Sins of Desire? Yeah, it took me longer than usual, (that's the slump's fault) but I read it monogamously (HA!) and finished it in 3 days. I didn't dither, flip flop between books (e.g. 1 chapter from this, 3 from that, not satisfied with either), every time I picked up my Kindle? I needed that Auryn Hadley fix.A brautiful continuation, and everyone who was disappointed about Bel & Ron not having screen time to develop a relationship with Sia? Well, they have screen time and it is gooooood.Auryn always makes the relationships feel real, even if I'm not excited for a particular pair at first. She MAKES me excited, because she shows us how the love develops, she doesn't tell us. It's not instant (even if the lust is!), It grows and it's beautiful, with just enough panic and doubt on the FMCs part to make her feel real as well. We all have doubts, but Ms Hadley shows us how lovely it can be if we work through them. How strong we are if we work together and lean on one another. (Sappy. But true!)A great addition to my library and another win for Auryn aka the only author to keep me engaged during this reading slump, and a higher praise idk how to give.

I am still not sure if I should give four or five stars, there are no grammatical errors or editorial boomers waiting to blow the book up, but good God it's a bit of a slog to read.No plot spoilers, no potential triggers.It seems to me that yet again the author has spent an inordinate amount of effort on personal angst from both the FL and also now some of the other characters seem to have been infected with a serious case of repetetive feels better suited to a sixteen year old in lust for the first time.The world building, that took place extensively in the first book is also debated more than a few times, making the book so boring in some stretches I admit to simply skimming through a couple or more paragraphs.In theory, the storyline is a cracker, but the execution is a little clumsy and the series really needs a good editor to cut out the repetition and move the story forward.Not for the first time I have made my observation that there is too much tell and not enough show. The storyline lingers where it shouldn't and any action is very slow in coming.Call me what you want, but since I have already read three of the five books in the series I will be purchasing the next, if nothing else I hate not knowing the full story!.There are some sex scenes each of them appropriate and loving, some them M/M, the book is aimed at an adult audience so if you are prudish don't buy the book, and if you do but still leave a bad review then shame on you.

This book continues Sia’s story. The book focuses mainly on her struggles with her feelings towards the members of her legion. There is a lot of discussion about it. Initially I felt that it was a bit overdone, but as time went on I realised that if someone had to completely upend their entire belief system in a matter of months, you would need a lot of thinking and talking about it. I loved one of the guys telling her;"You come from a world where women are ruled by shame. Shame that you aren't pretty enough, smart enough, loyal enough, or anything else. You could sum all of that up as 'not good enough.' It colors every decision you make - for now."It made it clear that they understood her doubts in the context of the society she’d been brought up in.The continuing focus of the story was the war between the demons and angels and how that affects the middle realms. The First Legion doesn’t want the angels to continue causing war and pain in order to feed their desire for convenient technologies.I really loved how the characters developed within this book, especially getting to see more of Bel and Ron. Both are wonderful characters; loyal, sweet and kind. There were quite a few POV throughout the book and I really enjoyed seeing those different ways of looking at the story.This series continues to be engaging and captivating. The world building is complicated and compelling, the characters are unique and fascinating and the plot is a complex wonder that pulls you on, page after page, even when you should be asleep.I can’t wait to read the next book!

I love strong female characters but rarely do we see the breadth of growth in strong FMC's as we do in this series. Sia has always been kinda badass but as she tackles her insecurities and grows closer to each of the guys, we really see her settle in and develop the confidence where she can almost immediately save herself without any panic or wishing for one of the MMC's. Can't wait to see where this series go.

A veil, a thwarting of angels, and an extra boyfriend or two. What’s not to love! On to book 4!

Another brilliant story with lots of growth...Well done Auryn Hadley, looking forward to reading more from this series xx