Slayter brothers #2: Bronagh – L.A. Casey

For a long time, I have been debating which book I wanted to talk about first, at first I wanted to talk about the core books first. Especially it’s how I read them the first time around. But for one of the later books, I needed you my dear reader to have the context of these books. As otherwise I will give everything away and we cannot have that. Now you do not need to read these to understand the others. Not necessarily, they are amazing but you can understand all of the stories without them. Having said all that, let’s go to the future after Dominic and Bronagh met at 18 they are now 21 and our story picks up again. And how lovely it is to as Bronagh would say visit our OTP (one true pairing) again.

Disclaimer
This book contains erotic material. If you do not feel comfortable with reading erotic stories, I recommend not reading this book. In theory, you could skip over the parts but I do feel that it is very much integrated with the story. If you still want to skip at least the first chapter and chapter either 6 or 7 (right after the dishwashing scene). I do have to say though, there are amazing books out there without explicit materials that I would recommend you check out instead.

The book in short
Bronagh Murphy has been through a lot over the past few years, a hell of a lot, so when her 21st birthday rolls around all she wants to do is relax and spend the day with her family. Quietly.
Her boyfriend, Dominic Slater, doesn’t do relaxed or quiet. He never has, and he never will. He plans out a day for Bronagh that is both romantic and exciting. However, Dominic’s version of exciting is very different from Bronagh’s as she will soon find out.
When things take a turn for the worse, and a bad altercation leaves Dominic once again fighting for his girl, Bronagh will have to decide once and for all if she will fight in Dominic’s corner or walk away and never look back.
Bronagh loves Dominic, and what Bronagh loves, Bronagh protects.
I found this information here.

What did I think?
With spoilers, like always.
There is almost nothing I liked better than being told that everyone does know that Bronagh’s coping is just not very good. In the first book, I felt in a way that both Bronagh and Dominic had a lot of growing up to do. In this book, we find out that Domenic did grow up a lot. I like this and it fits his character. It probably also has to do with the fact that Damien isn’t there. From all the stories we learn they call each other every day and miss each other a lot. For both of them finding family so important and being apart as twins. I think it made Dominic grow up and he did have growing up to do. Bronagh didn’t grow up as much as she should have, I think this has to do with the fact that she still has not dealt with her issues from the past. Her emotions are very up and down and she does not seem to be able to channel them in a healthy way.

I do find it interesting how Dominic has some trouble communicating with her in a way that works for them both. I think in the end they have the hardest time of it as a couple, in the sense of communicating. It’s partly age and partly their personalities. I love how Branna and Bronagh are still very sisterly in this book and how Bronagh has accepted Dominic’s brothers into her life. I think it was very cute for Dominic to play a full day of fun activities for Bronagh, it does raise some eyebrows that Bronagh does not know nor cares about activities Dominic loves. She does not have to become Mrs. Fitgirl, not at all. But she does not know he is climbing without gear. Or climbing in general. This is not very good, in a way it makes the relationship feel a bit one-sided as Dominic cannot share everything he loves with the woman he loves. I think the birthday activities are great, I absolutely love the gifts. It makes Dominic come across as the sweetie we know he is.

I do wonder which might sound silly. Bronagh has been out of school for three years, her best friend has gotten her degree, and her boyfriend has become a personal trainer. What did Bronagh do all that time? She does not seem to have a job and she didn’t go to Uni as far as I can tell. All of that is fine of course but it seems a bit out of character, not only for her personally but also for Branna to allow that. Branna is a bad-ass self-sufficient queen who got her degree later as she had to take care of Bronagh. It’s not even a money issue for them, I would have loved to know more about this, even if she was just home I would have loved some volunteering for example. The story is too dynamic for me to accept these unanswered questions.

The gifts were so cute, especially the book with reasons why he loved her, it is exactly what you would expect from a 21-year-old. It reads as the character which is great. The pendant shows how much Bronagh has grown already as she never wanted to talk of her parents or any photo or remembrance of them. As I said I loved their honest conversation about Bronagh’s behaviour and coping. I think both Dominic and Bronagh are not ready at all to have children yet. I think it’s good that Bronagh finally finds it within herself to seek help, sometimes that can be difficult for people around if someone does not want help. I think it’s very good for Bronagh and that it in the end will strengthen their relationship. I do think that we cannot blame Bronagh for all of it, she is childish and her coping is not very good. Yet, Nico has this ability to push all her buttons. It makes their relationship so interesting to read about as they truly have to work at it. I also think, because we haven’t been with them for two years it felt a bit out of the left field that Bronagh is clingy, it is in no way surprising though. As I said, they are not ready for the responsibility of children. The final fighting scene was written so well, I could almost see it happening.

I enjoyed this book, I thought it was so fun and cute. In addition, this book leads directly into the next book. Overall it was great to meet Bronagh and Dominic a few years after they met. But.. eek dare I say it? This story is just not my personal favourite. But who knows? One day it might be. I read this book for free with my audible account. My thoughts about audiobooks, in general, will be discussed in the final review.