ARC Review: Denied by Jodi Ellen Malpas

“Denied is intriguing; either you will love it or simply not at all.” ~ Under the Covers

After finishing Promised earlier this year, Denied became one of my highly anticipated books. Promised had mystery, hot romance and it had one hell of an ending that left me needing more. Denied have more mystery, angst and steam factor.

Denied takes off shortly after Promised had ended. Olivia had decided she is done with Miller and plans to stay away from him. However, Olivia fascinates Miller and he is not easily dumped. He will not give up until he wins her back. I thought that was romantic. Of course, Miller is not any other guy. He is a professional and he can go over the top.

Denied also revealed a lot of the mystery from the last book. Readers will know more about Miller and Olivia’s past as well as William’s story. We find out who he really is to Olivia and where their relationship will go. From how the last book ended, it’s not what I expected at all.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the last. I think the anticipation and expectation was a bit too high that the book just didn’t deliver. There were a few things that bothered me. Firsts, Nan was too passive for my liking. I saw her persona as a loving yet straight to the point type of granny but I didn’t agree with a lot of her decisions. Second, the angst between Miller and Olivia was a bit much. They both work so hard to get together and work equally hard to hurt each other. There was too much pulling and tugging of feelings and decisions that it became a contradiction at times. Last is Miller’s habit of going to Olivia’s room without anyone detecting him. It was weird and too stalker-ish if you ask me.

Denied is intriguing; either you will love it or simply not at all.

*ARC provided by publisher