Midnight Curfew by Penelope Douglas
- Alisha Eadle
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Midnight Curfew
by Penelope Douglas
Published by Berkley
Two rivals from opposing families fight their forbidden attraction to each other in the brand new romance from New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas.
Summertime is off-season in southern Florida. Families leave their homes to escape the heat, the streets are empty, and the nights are quiet. Perfect time for a little mischief while the police aren’t looking.
As the middle Jaeger brother, Dallas was often lost in the shuffle growing up. Now a man, he’s prideful of his community on the wrong side of the tracks—Sanoa Bay—and aggressively protective of his land and his inner circle. He’s hungry and ready for a fight.
Callum Ames has a reputation in St. Carmen, the affluent neighborhood abutting Sanoa Bay. The hottest. The most popular. Rich. Powerful. Strong. The one all the women want. After four years away, he’s back, but for all his bravado, he’s got one major secret: he doesn’t want a woman.
Summer is also storm season. Heat, wind, rain…
And a lockdown.
In a desperate bid to impress his influential father, Callum suggests a curfew to hinder their rivals in the Bay.
Unfortunately, the Jaegers don’t like rules.
As Dallas and Callum face off and engage, out for each other's blood, they can't stop the consuming fire between them and the outcome they already see coming...
The storm of the century.
Genre
Triggers Violence, Coercion, discussions of mental illness and suicide, PTSD, discussions of prior sexual abuse of a non-main character by a guardian, underage sex, and dubious consent.
Before I begin, I would like to thank Berkley Publishing for sending me an arc of Penelope Douglas's newest release, Midnight Curfew, in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I wish I knew before reading Midnight Curfew that it was connected to some of her other books. Specifically Five Brothers, and Tryst Six Venom.
I probably would have appreciated the story and characters more if I had, but I was able to piece enough information together to get the gist of the past between these characters.
I still enjoyed Midnight Curfew.
The darker nature of it was exactly what I was craving as we head into spooky season.
The main characters are both very much morally grey. Yes, compared to some of the side characters in this book, they seem like saints, but neither of them were perfect. Both were incredibly flawed, and dare I say ... immature.
I mean ... I wasn't perfect in my early twenties. I definitely had a lot of growing up to do. I guess it was just hard to relate to them because of they are both very vengeful characters and I'm ... not.
Not that that is a bad thing.
I don't need to relate to all the books I read, it just helps me understand the character more. So while I didn't fully understand why Callum and Jaeger made the choices they did, I still enjoyed the overall story. I felt the yearning. The unrequited love.
Penelope Douglas nailed the enemies to lovers trope. The mutual attraction - no, obsession - between these characters made most of their interactions hot.
It's Penelope Douglas. She doesn't skimp on the spice.
If you are in the mood for a dark, male/male romance, you are in for a treat. I do suggest you read Tryst Six Venom and Five Brothers first, however. You don't have to, but you will enjoy Midnight Curfew more if you do.
Liv: "She likes you." My sister grins at me.
Liv: "Probably the first woman ever."
Jaeger: "You don't like me?"
Liv: "I love you,"
she clarifies.
Liv: "There's a difference. Would I have your back? Absolutely. Would I trust you to plan my funeral? No, you'd dump me in the ocean."
Iron lets out a quiet laugh. I simply shrug.
Jaeger: "Our ancestors were pirates. It's fitting."
Ascending the steps, she climbs out of the pool, coming around the corner in a black one-piece that has a thin string zigzagging across the front just tight enough to keep her breasts from completely popping out. Droplets of water glisten all over her tanned skin.
Macon: " Oh, my God."
Macon looks her up and down as she walks past him.
Macon: "What are you wearing?"
Her revenge suit, dumbass.
Krisjen: "Don't touch me,"
she snaps back at him.
Krisjen: "I'm in a pout."
He throws a glare back at me before shooting off after her.
Macon: "Fuck."
And that's the revenge part.
Jaeger: "You have to remember, Anna-Katherine,"
I tell her,
Jaeger: "we're all just kids inside, trying to pretend that it feels good to be grown up."
AK: "Why?"
Maybe because it's expected when we turn eighteen. Maybe we need money.
But instead, I say,
Jaeger: "Because we think freedom will give us things that are good for us."
That's why we want to grow up. That's why we pretend we're glad we did.
Jaeger: "Eventually,"
I explain,
Jaeger: "we realize that we're not doing the things we do because we can."
The sex. The drinking. Spending money. Zoning out into our phones.
Jaeger: "We're doing them because we can't stop anymore."
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