Forsaken Desires (The Deepest Desires) Paperback – June 22, 2022

I know this is only the author’s second book, but it doesn’t feel like it. Spectacular world building and high octane heat as well. The friends and found family bonds that are shown were beautiful also, although some took time to grow that bond.Aston and Knox’s hate towards each other intrigued me immediately in Barred Desires and I couldn’t wait to get their story here in Forsaken Desires. I loved how their conflict was revealed and it wasn’t even a huge issue to anyone who later on discovered what the conflict was. Except it actually IS a big issue for Knox.Aston and Knox had depth and let me tell you I love to dive deep. PLEASE heed the trigger warnings. Don’t go in blind in that aspect because some potentially triggering scenes do occur on page. I have a high threshold for what I can read and I had to pause for a moment to get through a particularly difficult scene.Aston and Knox frustrated me, but I understood where both of them were coming from. They both had reasons for their behaviors, but fear and lack of communication kept them from opening up to each other sooner. Have no fear. Their friends and found family knock some sense into our boys. I ate this book up in about a day and it was long. So. Good.A tiny warning of my own. The main characters do have relations with other side characters on page. I didn’t mind at all, but I have seen some people complain about that before.The only reason I didn’t rate a 5 here is stylistically there was an aspect of the author’s writing that distracted me. The author used a lot of gerunds to start sentences (words ending in -ing) and sometimes it confused me a bit. Overall very well-written and worth a read.

I really liked the first book due to its low-angst and quick-resolution vibes. Yes, there was a little push/pull and some sensitive topics, but for the most part, it was an easy, feel-good read. I was hoping this book gave the same vibes. However, not so much. Knox was cruel to Aston and, yes, you could feel the sexual tension but I have absolutely no clue how they ended up falling in love. There seemed to be very little build-up to that and then BAM. In love.Was this Knox and Aston's story or Knox and Katie's story? Like, geez, she was in it a lot. I loved that Luca and Branson were each other's main support in their book and was hoping for similar vibes in this book, but that wasn't exactly the case. Obviously with it being an enemies-to-lovers romance they, understandably, wouldn't go to each other initially for support but it took almost the entire book for them to trust each other.My biggest ick about the series is that for this being an LGBT romance, there is A LOT of heterosexual activities happening... in detail. Being all the books have bi-awakenigs, it's understandable that the guys were with women first, but I've never read a MM romance where the intimate scenes with women were described in such detail or so often. That might be some people's cup of tea, and I'm not shaming, but I don't want it in my MM romances. In my FM romances or and MFM romances, yes, please! But not MM.I loved that Aston had zero shame upon discovering his new sexuality. He dove in head-first with zero abandon and owned that ish. It was beautiful. Knox went through some things, and I feel for him, but he doesn't deserve Aston. That's my opinion on it, fight me.Okay, last question/rant. Do gay men only do it in missionary? I'm seriously disappointed that with HOW MUCH SMUT is in these books it's basically the same makeout, bj, missionary positions explained just a little differently each time. I need Ashley to throw some doggy or 69 or riding in there OR SOMETHING. There is a lot of smut in these books but it got so repetitive that I glossed over quite a bit of it towards the end.

This book is a favorite of mine, which is why I bought it to annotate for fun! Knox and Aston share a moment in high school that leads to an enemies situation with them for years. It isn't until later in college where the book really starts with them. I love their sad and very fiery journey. Ashley knocks it out of the park in this book, like she does! These boys are precious and must be protected! Such lovers. Also Katie is one of the best characters of all time! Just love her.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story line and that Knox's dad finally got what he deserved. Loving daddy aston hehe

Such a good story BUT there are several significant **TRIGGERS**that readers should be well aware of prior to reading.There are graphic stories of horrific physical & emotional abuse, child r@pe, self-harm, physical abuse in the “effort” of conversion therapy, etc.I had definitely wondered what the backstory was with Knox & Aston. I suspected that it **maybe** had been somewhere along these lines, but didn’t expect it. I kept waiting for them to confide in each other, and was a little disappointed by how all that went, but I can’t say the storyline wasn’t unrealistic or unreasonable.Probably one of the biggest things that annoys me (which seems silly, but it just feels so sloppy) is how the author had the school year arranged. College starts in August & ends in May for most schools. Which means that Fall Semester finals occur prior to Xmas break—which is usually almost a month long. So having finals before spring break (usually in March) makes zero sense. The first semester would be CRAZY long & the 2nd super short. Nit-picky? Perhaps. Sloppy? Definitely.I suspect Luca & Bran will remain my favorite couple, but these two definitely had me swooning — especially towards the end!

Wow. This book is everything I was looking for. The depth of feeling between the characters was intense. The story was well laid out and enticing so you never want to stop reading.The spice is next level so if that’s not something you are looking for I would pass on this one. It comes on hot and often.You really fall in love with these characters and want to see them succeed and fall for each other.Great read and I cannot wait to read more by Ashley.

Muito,muito quente, até a metade do livro eles já tiveram contato sexual várias vezes,eles se descobrem e se experimentam e Knox é meu preferido,uma alma machucada que não admite sua sexualidade por anos,mas quando ele começa a experimentar simplesmente não para mais ,ele é selvagem e submisso ao mesmo tempo ,é como um animal no cio,e ele cede loucamente ,ele prova ele gosta ,ele vicia,e é muito excitante ver ele se quebrar,derrubar todos os muros de preconceito q ele mesmo tem,a narração mostra que eles estão em ponto de ebulição o tempo todo,a medida q a história é narrada vemos que ele não é aquele bad boy,no fundo ele é machucado,porém doce e carente e ao mesmo tempo feroz e energético, e a Katie gente ,ela é uma fofa,uma personagem secundária que rouba a cena,a amizade dela com Knox é linda e meiga de doer,é onde vemos toda a vulnerabilidade que Knox têm... Aston é um rapaz muito aberto que está buscando sua felicidade,ele é extrovertido e engraçado e faz um par perfeito com Knox... Simplesmente amei esse livro,esse é o segundo da série e supera o primeiro fácil...Tanto o q eles estão fazendo,quanto o q estão pensando é bastante detalhado e o sangue de nós leitores ferve(risos)

Really great story, the boys are beautiful together, their friendships are so well bonded .. the flow of the story and spice and love all is very well done

Oh Mann, was für eine unglaubliche Enemies to Lovers Geschichte!!!!❤️ Das war eines dieser Bücher, die ich nicht schnell genug zu Ende lesen konnte, um endlich zum Happy End zu gelangen und mir gleichzeitig gewünscht habe, das Buch würde nicht enden!Die Geschichte von Knox und Aston war wahnsinnig aufregend, herzzerreißend und heiß! Die Chemie zwischen den beiden war nicht von dieser Welt 🥵🔥! Ich muss zugeben, dass ich am Anfang meine Schwierigkeiten mit Knox hatte, da er teilweise wirklich gemein war, aber im Laufe der Geschichte wurde klar, was die erschütternden Motive für sein Verhalten waren 🥺! Ich bin so froh, dass Knox sein Happy End bekommen hat und mit Aston einen unglaublich tollen und liebevollen Partner gefunden hat!🥰 Ich kann dieses Buch und auch den ersten Teil dieser tollen Reihe von ganzem Herzen weiterempfehlen und freue mich schon auf den dritten Teil!!!!

I love how the story flows, and the relationships (all of them). I was a bit bothered with Knox in the beginning because of the way he treats women in general, but I guess I can understand him in a way. He went through a lot. Aston is super cute and reminds me of Oakley from iced out (which I love). It’s a nice, easy going book and the characters are well introduced. Katie is an angel, and Weston is a great friend too.