They were clearly fighting their attraction and connection with Cyn at every turn and failed more often than not and then would punish her to reset that boundary. However that didn’t mean everything was answered straight away, seeing as secrets were still being kept and mysteries were still to be unravelled. Cyn has been mute since the death of her mother and to finally know what she's thinking in her head and what she's been through has been eye opening. And even thought it's set in the modern day, it has a timeless feeling, there aren't references to characters checking social media on their phones, or anything). her three love interests are all bitches i genuinely don’t understand what’s going through their minds bc they bullied her since she joined the school bc she’s the daughter of a guy who helped killed one of their dads which i would’ve get if she was super defensive over her dad but the girl hates him and she’s going through it bc she can’t even talk and her mom died and they’re just making it worse.

This book was focused around establishing their history and giving the characters time to reestablish their connection to each other.But that’s not a simple business transaction, because those 4 have a past that extends to their school years. Even though I've been a bit disappointed in Bea Paige's recent books like Heads You Lose, THIS book shows that she's still got it. I thought it was a bit slow at times as it repeated the inner thoughts of the men but it picked up momentum towards the end.

This is sort of a second-chance, kind of an "enemies to lovers" read, about Cynthia, aka Cyn (who was introduced in The Dancer and The Masks) and the 3 guys known as the Deana-Dhe (who were first introduced in Breakers): Arden the leader, Carrick the mean one, and Lorcan, the sort of nice one (none of these guys are really nice). Cyn is a mute girl and made a vow that she will never ever squeak, scream or speak a word around them. More recently, I've been anticipating this book since I finished The Masks and The Dancer all the way back in January and I had a lot of expectations going in about what I wanted. there’s also this whole plot about her voice and she’s mute for majority of the book but all a sudden at the end it’s revealed she can talk and she learned to do it during her time w her trio friends and the main guys are upset bc they literally bullied her so hard hoping she’ll talk but also like omg she can talk we can have hot kinky sex now which they didn’t do ik so sad. Bea Paige has a brilliant way of blending chapters from the past with the present seamlessly that it doesn't feel noticeable.Right know my favorite is the dancer and the masks books so I’m super excited to see them making an appearance again! It examines their complicated relationships; we see the lies they tell as well as the rare moments of honesty they share. Yet it worked well since it played in keeping us in suspense at times from the build up that kept us hanging on. It is a slow burn but their chemistry is so electric and I knew from chapter 6 that I would cry from this book and the angst would be so good. Something about him trying to keep the group together, how he looks out for everyone, the leader and martyr in some respects.

Bea did a good job with the first part to the duet series in not only bringing the characters to life, given all that we learn about each of them. So once again, she has the upper hand, even though it initially seems like the guys hold all the power. The way the Deana-Dhe figure things out at the end and how they have to eat crow made me giggle so hard. And it’s perfectly mixed with years of family drama and a little bit of magic: not only Cyn’s gifts challenge science, Arden has visions of the future and the 4 of them are tied by more than story, by a true soul bond none of them can escape. Please know that this book has TW/CW like bullying, bloodplay, childhood trauma, and death of loved ones off-page.it wasnt a book that i couldnt put down, I would read a couple of chapters and then was ok putting it down for a while. First of all, I would like to say that I have loved the Deana-Dhe from the second we met them in Academy of Stardom and their story was well worth the wait! I'm hanging on by a thread about 2 hours from the end of the book and its a lot words and no action. Part origin story, part enemies to lovers, masterful game of chess, we get to discover these characters in multiple eras as we find out just what the history is between them all and what has led to the desperate, volatile, and dangerous arrangement that now exists between them. Bea takes a really relationally immersive approach here- with a lot of flashbacks to help shape our understanding for their dynamics.