I keep hitting all these second books in a series. This was the sorta sequel to Playing Passion's Game, and like the first book this story included the characters of Trent and Juliet, they just weren't as main characters here as they were in that one. I haven't read the first book yet, but I do plan to. And I wasn't lost or anything in this book having not read the first one either.

The main characters were Bryce and Scarlet. Bryce is a plasterer for Tweedy Contractors and she's still in the process of trying to get past a bit a humongous car crash where she was the only survivor and she's having quite a time of it physically and mostly mentally. Scarlet is an artist who when she isn't taking photos or doing amazing paintings has resumed working for her father's company (Tweedy) as an inside house painter. That's where Bryce and Scarlet meet and that's where sparks first fly between them. All is not easy and simple though. Bryce still has many scars from the crash, both inside and out. And Scarlet has some drama going on with her father over his company as well. Add to that an awesome little subplot with an ex of Bryce's named Gerri and it was a very cool romance plot.

I also thought that the inclusion of the Goth stuff was interesting because in most of the 'general' lesbian romances I've read Goth isn't one of the styles of the main characters. It was a fun addition to the novel though. And then there were the awesome Once Upon a Time (the TV show) mentions (Evil Queen, Yay!), not to mention the Nightwish mention (Storytime is my favorite some of theirs to see it in the book was very cool). It was a fun and surprisingly fast read. Now I just have to go find the first book.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. ( )