My Darling Arrow

No one does the forbidden like my queen, Saffron A. Kent! My Darling Arrow does not disappoint- it is every bit as alluring and addictive as I’ve come to expect. This is a story about a messy and forbidden love- the kind of love story Saffron writes like no one else. The intensity, the sexiness, the emotional angst all paired with the undeniable thrall of a soul mate connection. I LOVED THIS BOOK!I found Saffron because of her age gap books- and this one only has a SLIGHT age gap (5 years) but definitely still has that forbidden flair. Our heroine is a high schooler, at St. Mary’s reform school after a recent runaway attempt. And she has a giant secret- she’s madly in love with Arrow- and he is off limits, in more ways than one! I’ll let you have fun finding just all the layers of obstacles that make their romance forbidden, but the biggest obstacle is Arrow himself. He’s never really noticed sweet Salem- and she’s avoided him because her love is just exploding out of her and she can’t contain it in his presence. But their paths are now perpetually linked- Arrow is in a low point, angry and bitter, and he finds the perfect rebound in the alluring Salem, who will do anything for his happiness, even break her own heart by being his distraction. But soon Arrow can’t stop thinking about Salem-she tempts him like no other, and that is very dangerous for a man who plays by tight and controlled rules- because Salem? Well Salem is a rule breaker- a wild creature who is radically and beautiful imperfect. And Arrow needs perfection- or so he thinks, because Salem makes him want things.Salem is definitely my favorite Saffron heroine to date- our little lipstick wearing, Lana de Rey collage, witchy Salem. I FLOVED her. She’s slightly awkward, naive and so very endearingly infatuated. It causes her to do silly things- she romanticizes and obsesses, she dreams. But she’s more than her deep love for her darling Arrow- and the great thing about her romance with him and her own journey is that she gets to discover how fabulous she is right alongside the readers. Because sweet and sassy Salem hasn’t even really SEEN herself- she’s spent to many years defining herself based on who she is to others and on what she’s not (not Arrow’s, not talented, not goal oriented, not a rule follower, etc) that she hasn’t taken the time to admire herself for just who she IS- and she’s so amazing. She’s talented and feisty, she’s an incredible friend and even a good sister despite her sister being horrible, she’s smart, she’s bold and brave- she takes risks and puts herself out there, even when she knows it might hurt her. But what I loved about her most was her HEART. This girl loves hard- she loves freely, vulnerably, openly, and deeply. And the sad thing is that no one has ever loved her that way- and because of that, all her magic is buried under her own insecurities, the stories she tells herself. How can no one have ever noticed this magical creature?! It hurts my soul- and it jolts Arrow, who finally sees her and wonders just how he never had before.Arrow took me a lot longer to love- we have much less time in his head, and he’s quite mysterious and hard to read at first- and, well, he’s in a bit of a funk. He’s broody and grumpy and angry- bitter at the world, resentful that his carefully constructed, perfect life has been crumbled because he didn’t follow his rules. He is no longer perfect- and that grinds his gears. He’s prickly at first, but when we see inside his heart we find there is much more pain and complexity to this man. And when he turns on the romance? Oh my exploding ovaries. He makes you swoon with his charm, his romantic overtures are a work of heart, and his alpha dirty talking bedroom antics? OH LAWD. These two are pure fire together- explosive, intense, emotional, and HOT. I could not pull myself away from their messy passion- but I also found myself touched by the gentle way they settle into each other emotionally. They see each other, understand and challenge each other- and give each other what neither has ever really had before- unconditional love.And I love the brilliance of that irony- a love that is taboo, a love born out of anger for one and deep and irrational obsession for another is actually the purest, realest, deepest and HEALTHIEST love that either of these characters have ever known.The best news is that this is going to be a series of interconnected standalones- which made my heart leap with joy because Salem’s girlfriends are super interesting. We don’t get to know much about all of them, but one in particular has a captivating story set up in this book. What I loved, though, is that they were Salem’s home base- her stability, her rock- and she as theirs. While everything else is swirling around her- there’s a solidness to these friendship, a maturity beyond the characters, and I found that to be a nice contrast to the frenetic intensity or cold detachment or Salem’s other relationships.I’m still so in love with Saffron’s writing. I know that the narrative approach may not work for everyone- but I love the poetic way she creates a character psyche. Her stories are always very meta- we really sit in their thoughts and feelings- its part of how we know them so well. And her prose- at times it even reads like little haiku meta interludes. The dialogue is always crisp and CAPTIVATING- and the voice. Y’all- this is an author who gets character voice. Both Salem and Arrow are SO vivid. One smart little narrative decision here I also appreciated was holding us back a bit from Arrow’s povs, especially early on- we spend more time in Salem’s head, and so we’re left wondering just what are Arrow’s motives and more so, if we, too, have fallen into the trap of the romanticized ideas of Salem or if it is real. It really built the tension and anticipation, and helped the story feel more forbidden and angst. And oh the angsty- there is so much tension here! So much push-pull! I was longing like Salem and sucked in like Arrow.My love affair with Saffron A Kent has just been further cemented, and this is definitely one of my all time favorite books of hers. I live for her brand of forbidden- the emotional energy, the tension, the explosive chemistry, and her heroes draw me in every single time. I loved this book- and I can not wait for the rest of the series!.

4/5 ⭐3/5 🌶️I'm absolutely loving this series; such forbidden goodness, this time with her sister's boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, and a little TA/Student secret relationship. I loved the tension and chemistry between Arrow and Salem and how their story unfolded.Salem was so great; I loved how open and sure of herself she was. How she was willing to give her all to Arrow despite knowing he couldn't give much back. She loved him so deeply and was willing to go to the ends of the earth for him just to heal him and bring him back to life. I loved Arrow too; he was a bit of an á-hölé, but only because he was so broken and had never truly experienced love.I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a sister's boyfriend, unrequited love interest going in... but eF that Bee lol Saffron made it pretty easy to root for Salem and Arrow without feeling much guilt in the end. And honestly, even if she hadn't, you couldn't help but root for Salem. She was really such a sweet soul with a bad girl vibe.We got quite a bit of foreshadowing for A Gorgeous Villain and Callie's story in this one. I'm super excited to continue this series!

Salem has been in love with Arrow since she was ten years old when they had a small conversation but once arrow saw Salem sister sarah everything changed for her sarah and arrow were always together.Salem kept her distance when arrow announce he was going to propose.She ran but she was caught and send to a school for reform girls st Mary while their she found out Arrow was coming their to teach soccer and he was no longer dating Sarah because one night Salem when to a bar and saw arrow with another girl kissing.Salem decide to be rebound girl for Arrow that what start their elicit affair student/coach.

Saffron A. Kent is one of the only "auto-buys" for me -- she always crafts angsty but likable main characters and a cohesive theme, with emotional and descriptive writing that never crosses the line into purple prose. Both characters in this offering seem to suffer from low self-esteem; one because of constant comparisons to her over-achieving sister, the other because he can't quite live up to his mother's idealized vision of his late father.This has been billed as a sports romance, but there isn't a lot of description of the characters playing soccer. However, this is understandable as soccer is considered a group activity at the heroine's school, not a competitive team sport, and the hero is suspended from his team throughout the book. It might have been nice to hear more about her soccer training, though, for some soccer enthusiasts such as myself.This is also, like most of Kent's books, a bit of a "forbidden love" romance; not as much as her other works, since the age gap is only five years (18 and 23), but there is still a bit of a taboo feel because the hero is the heroine's school soccer coach. If you love forbidden or taboo romances, you will love the work of Saffron A. Kent, and you will likely love this particular book.Additionally, like Kent's outstanding publication "The Unrequited," this story explores unrequited love. The heroine has loved the hero since she was ten years old, and the hero has just had his heart broken by a long-term girlfriend and become cynical about love and romance. One thing I love about Kent's stories is that they don't have too much OM/OW drama, though, even when there is an OW, as seen here. Do not worry if you don't like OW drama! These characters are completely devoted to each other and not in love with anyone else, and there is no cheating.One criticism I would make of this book and Kent's previous publication, Dreams of 18, is that the heroes' comments about the heroines' virgin status are a bit over-the-top and unrealistic. There is a particular phrase in this book that I had trouble believing the hero would use so early in the characters' sexual relationship. It took away from the romance, in my opinion. But as a virgin myself, I do love virgin heroes and heroines and hope to see more of that trope from Kent. It is rare to find an author who can write that trope believably and with expert characterization like Kent can.My biggest criticism of this book and the reason for knocking off half a star is that this is the start of a four-book series that introduces all four heroines, but fails to really give us a detailed characterization of the three side characters, a/k/a the future heroines. I am still excited for the sequel because this book includes the first chapter of the next book in the series, and there, we finally see some good characterization. But I really feel that all three side characters should have been better drawn so that I felt like I knew each of them individually.I don't know if it was overzealous editing, but I did feel like this story could have been just a little bit longer. There could have been some more descriptions of interactions between the four friends and the other girls at school to give the side characters more definition. I also would have liked a bit more detail on the hero and heroine getting to know each other and falling in love after their sexual relationship began. (Unlike another reader, I don't think that the build-up took too long; that was perfect, and I wasn't feeling impatient at all.)This is still a four-and-a-half-star read for sure. I am definitely looking forward to the other three books in the series, although I do hope that the author still writes books for the rest of the friends in the Heartstone series and perhaps some follow-ups or spin-offs to Gods and Monsters and The Unrequited.

My Darling Arrow by Saffron A. Kent is one of the most anticipated and my favorite books this year! I love everything about My Darling Arrow - a beautiful and gripping love story, emotional hero, and sweet heroine, and on the book cover, you see Arrow himself. He is hot hot hot.❤️All Saffron A. Kent books are special and her writing style is phenomenal because you feel like you are these heroes or heroines. All the feelings Salem and Arrow feel are so beautiful, raw, gripping, crazy in love, possessive, and sexy. How they see or do not see each other is so beautifully written. All the feels are out there and while reading, I felt all of the - unrequited love, hope, the courage to go out there, angst, hurting, being in love and so much happiness. I think I fell in love with Arrow and when he finally started to notice Salem, “oh my”. He was not very nice about it in the beginning and then he was also so much more... Arrow has so many layers and how Salem gets to know him from his other side - possessive, protective, emotional, and completely in love.Salem writes sweet letters to Arrow in secret and through the book, you want to know, will he get them in the end. Salem's new friends in St. Mary’s school is also important to notice because each one will have their own story. I am so excited to see where these series will go. The next one A Gorgeous Villain, will be Callie's story.Thank you for creating these beautiful, forbidden, and swoon-worthy romantic heroes/heroines and their love stories! ❤️If you love to read romantic, unrequited, and hot love stories then I highly recommend My Darling Arrow and all other Saffron A. Kent super hot and amazing books.

I didn't think I would enjoy My Darling Arrow as I wasn't a fan of the prequel. I couldn't connect with how the male characters were written but Arrow surprised me. Don't get me wrong he definitely had the none explained mood changes and over-exaggerated alpha hole expressions but he showed his soft side a lot more.Salem is exactly as her name states. She is constantly described as having witchy eyes and a witchy demeanour. It did keep taking me away from the story every time we were reminded about it. I would have liked the initial description and potential reminder here and there but it seemed to be in every chapter. I did enjoy Salem and Arrow together with the multiple forbidden tropes at play. The conflict between these two played a huge part in their character development and made the tension that much more gripping.

When her mother dies, Salem and her sister are left in the care of their mothers best friend. Salem almost immediately falls for their new guardians son, Arrow. The problem is he only has eyes for her older sister so Salem is treated like nothing other than the little sister. After many years of misbehaving and struggling to play by the rules Salem is sent to an all girls reform school. Where she gets a new soccer coach, in the form of Arrow.I didn’t realise there was a sporting element in this. Arrow becomes Salem’s Soccer teacher at St. Mary’s but he also gives her some private soccer lessons and I don’t think we saw enough of that. It could have added a lot of tension and angst but I felt like we missed a bit of that. However this is full of tension as Salem navigates her new relationship with Arrow and her need to break every rule placed in front of her.It lost a star only because it felt a little long at points. It was the first I’ve read from Saffron A. Kent and I really enjoyed her writing style. The banter and dynamic between both main characters was so enjoyable and really easy to read.We're given little glimpses of Callie's story and I'm excited to see where her story goes. Her hero is called Reed Jackson, is not just the quintessential bad boy book boyfriend name?

I loved every word of it. I fell in love with Salem and Arrow. They were raw and emotional and freaking cute together. There wasn't anything not to love in this book. If you love pure (definitely not perfect) love this is for you!I already miss this and I just finished an hour ago :)

I had heard such good reviews on this book so I am quite disappointed: it started of really good but then it went downhill. It became really cringe, especially the way Arrow describes Salem’s intimate areas (if ya know what I mean). I wanted to facepalm every time Salem said something stupid. The writing style was okay but certain descriptions kept getting repeated. Like how Arrow is the ‘sun’ — It got old real fast.The style and structure of writing was different, and it was quite a quick read even though it is 522 pages long.It had really cute bits in it though. Like when Arrow stands up for Salem. So overall it was alright. But definitely not the best.