Rise of Ink and Smoke

I have owed this book a review for over a month, because apparently the better the book is, the less capable I am of forming useful sentences. But this is the best book I have read in a long time. Certainly this year. Honestly, probably since the last Pam Godwin book. Only Pam Godwin could write a 740 page book and have me read it twice in less than two months. Twice. In five weeks. I read a ridiculous amount of books and her writing still stands in a league of its own. She is gifted. The prose, the tension, the way she builds damaged people, it is just different. I struggle so much with reviews for my god tier books because when a book hits this hard, simple tropes and the usual romance words feel inadequate. Rise of Ink and Smoke is not just “dark romance” with messy trauma bonding, or something as basic as found family but kinky. It is beautiful. Complicated, brutal, emotional, intimate beautiful. I could go on, you get the drift. Wolf absolutely wrecked me. He has always felt like the smartest one in the Frozen trilogy to me, the one who sees everything, understands more than people give him credit for, and this book cements that. He is deeply damaged but he knows it. He owns who he is, even when he is still trying to survive what was done to him. Watching him try to adapt to a world that is not actively trying to kill him, while still carrying the PTSD from his childhood and captivity, was heartbreaking AND fascinating. And when he spirals, thinking his sexuality…

I want to start this by saying, I love Pam. I found her in 2021 and I DEVOURED every single book she had written up to that point within a couple of weeks. I’ve since had the honor of joining her ARC team and it is a true honor to be able to read her books at all, much less to ARC read for her. And if you’re new here, then you should know that Pam’s Frozen Fate Trilogy was my top read of 2024 (out of 181 books). The very top read. I LOVED Wolfson then, and I almost DIED when Pam announced she was writing his spinoff book, so my expectations for this one were sky high. So high it couldn’t get higher. I’m telling you: I Love. Wolfson. He’s this dark, messy, broken, hilarious, kinky boy who never ceases in nicknames, sarcasm, and loyalty. You’ll never find a more loyal man. Again, the expectations for this one? Sky high. It feels impossible to say too much because it’ll ruin it, but this is a beautifully written, well timed masterpiece. It’s a thiccccccc babe, but I never felt like it was too long. In fact, even though it took me a couple of days to read (because of family/work/sleep insanity) I was so sad when it was over. The healing that occurs throughout this book with practically every character? It healed different parts within me at the same time. I laughed. I cried. The spice is a little slow burny but when it hits? 😮‍💨 The tension and build up is way worth the effort. I LOVED that we got more of Frankie and her men. I literally can’t tell you how much I…