Sinful Cousins

Sinful Cousins by Terri Brooks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hayley and Parker, 21-year-old "cousins", have fallen in love. After the revelation of their love to the family, a brutal attack occurs and their story of healing begins. They have to figure out how to come together to get back to the love they once felt. The family has to figure out how to be there for each other and the young couple as well. The plot was solid and the content relevant. For this to have been a truly stellar read, the story would have had to have been written true to its region and research on a few topics would be helpful. The family is from Arkansas, but then it changes to Alabama. They are southern either way. The verbiage chosen throughout 75% to 80% of this story severely disrupted the flow. I'm a Southerner and we don't usually refer to young men as lads. For example this comment from one of the mothers regarding give the father's needs after hearing some disturbing news "Provide him with a little space to accommodate to this. " I believe "acclimate" would have been a better choice. OR, "I couldn't discard you from my mind". Incorrect verbiage also made an attack scene and its aftermath less intense than it should have been. A few other areas that would have improved the story would be developing the characters, making the reactions to certain situations more believable and adding depth to the story by filling in the missing holes would have aided in bringing the story a bit of realism. These changes would have pulled me in as a reader and allowed me to become invested in the characters and their outcome.

Random comments:
What was the reason behind constantly reminding the reader that they are "cousins" every other page?
What was going on with the attacker during the hallway scene if everyone is attending to the victim?
The victim and attacker are kept under the same roof for at least one night. The victim was expected to rest?
No one batted an eye at the murder?
The overly dramatic reaction of Parker falling to his knees and crying out in the hospital after a verbal dressing down by Stephanie over his wife's mental state was out of place.
I would not substitute the word complicated for hard in certain situations i.e. "it' complicated as f**k to keep my hands off her"

I think the author had a great story that got lost somewhere in translation. This is one I would love to see pulled, re-edited and then re-released.

View all my reviews