Release Day Review: The Strength of His Heart by Victoria Sue

Title: The Strength of His Heart
Series: Enhanced World: Book 4
Author: Victoria Sue
Release Date: December 11, 2018
Category: Science Fiction
Pages: 207

Dreamspinner Press


To protect and serve…. All Vance Connelly ever wanted to do was continue his family’s tradition and join the Tampa Police Department, but his dreams were crushed the day he woke with the enhanced mark on his face. After years of struggling to adjust to life as an enhanced human, by a stroke of luck, he met Talon Valdez and became a proud member of the FBI’s Human Enhanced Rescue Organization.

Samuel “Angel” Piper is eager to leave his DEA undercover work behind as he joins the HERO team as Vance’s regular human partner. But Sam’s painful past is ever present, just below the surface of the life he has built for himself as an ambitious young agent. When the team investigates rumors of a new drug using enhanced blood, the case’s mysterious connection to Sam threatens not just his life but Vance’s.

Trust doesn’t come easy for Sam, but Vance is willing to fight to convince his partner that the strength of his heart might be the salvation they both need.

3 Stars

Let me start this review by stating that I loved the previous books in this series about Talon and Finn and Jake and Gael. Unfortunately, this one just fell flat for me, and I was often confused as the story seemed muddled. The storyline, romance, and characters just felt different than the previous books altogether.

I did not find Sam likable, even given his limited backstory. He was so cold to everyone on the team, even to Vance, who wanted nothing more than to be accepted and loved. On the other hand, Vance was a sweetheart and a big cuddly bear you couldn’t help but root for. I loved getting a deeper peek into the Connelly family and being able to revisit the team.

There was no romance to speak of. A few sexy times, one of which was very disturbing as it was a near non-con scene between the MCs which was quickly swept under the rug and the two just went on merrily...

Overall, this storyline just never came together for me. There seemed to be large leaps of logic and context. And too many characters with unknown or obscure motivations. The plot seemed like it almost got away from the author - it was too intricate and too complex, which resulted in a nearly incoherent storyline. Random characters would pop up and move the story, while major plot points would disappear and never be resolved. An example is the appearance of Sam’s long-lost mother and unknown half-brother two-thirds into the book. Where did they come from? And why? How did they get connected with the story? Or Vance’s metabolism…

Maybe these will be revealed/resolved in future books, but this one was a miss for me...

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***