Actor Quin McCarthy ends up spending the winter in a small town in Canada, filming a new show, where his closest neighbor is Cole Milton, an unfriendly F1 star that Quin despises. When Quin finds a dead body on set and
sees the murderer getting away, suddenly he too is in danger and must turn to Cole for help. As they get closer, Quin starts to suspect that Cole bark is worse than his bite, and that there may be darker things going on beneath the wholesome surface of this small town.
It’s j-just that they’re *sniffles* they’re so good f-for each other. *snort* they just *sob* want to b-be loved *sniffle*
One thing about me: I like my romances with a healthy dose of angst, by which I mean I want angst with a side of romance. Because of that, I really loved Crash Test by Amy James and it unexpectedly made it on to my favorites list for the year. When I reviewed it, I did warn people that it was a non-standard romance and doesn’t follow the plot beats you might be used to. I have to give the same disclaimer for Final Cut. I think it’s closer to a typical romance because Quin and Cole just spend more time together on page than Travis and Jacob did, but the thriller element of the plot definitely influences the way their romance unfolds. And I ATE IT UP.
I like the build of their relationship and the dynamic that they have a lot. Unstoppable force vs. immovable object as the book says, and I do really believe that healing is something we do with the help of others. There is kind of an “I can fix him” dynamic, but it doesn’t come off that way to me because Quin wants to help Cole, but he does so by pushing him and not cowing to Cole lashing out or pushing him away. In that way, their healing relationship is kind of adversarial, but unfortunately sometimes helping people means dragging them kicking and screaming out of their depression cave. Quin actively pushes Cole to heal, but he also gives Cole a reason to want to be healthier. All this while Cole is being continuously retraumatized because stuff is going down.
Did I see the twist coming from several miles away? Yeah, I did. Do I care? No, not really. I don’t really care about murder mysteries so the whodunnit was not the interesting part for me. I liked the stakes of the mystery and Cole’s relationship with Clara is a really fundamental part of who he is and the person Quin brings out in him. Even before it was revealed why Cole was being such a prick, I couldn’t hold his anger against him because the anger that comes from grief looks a certain way and I saw that in Cole. I admire Quin a lot too for being willing to push boundaries and just continuing to maintain and pursue meaningful relationships when he feels like he’s never loved someone before. I relate to that, and it makes it hard to connect with people because after a while you just assume you’re broken and will never have that. This was great all around. I like the romance, the main characters, the side characters, the plot outside the romance, and the stakes that the external plot adds to the story.
Not everyone will love this kind of romance because it doesn’t follow the formula, but personally that’s exactly why I love it. I hope Amy James keeps writing angsty romances like this because I will happily let them ruin my life every time!
Thank you to Amy James for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!
Happy reading!
Recent posts:
Leave a Reply