Pen Pal ♥ J.T Geissinger

Published August 2022 ♥ Originally Independently Published by J.T Geissinger

Narrated by : Tara Langella and Troy Duran

❥ Trigger Warnings : Explicit language, Graphic sex/Power Play dynamics, Detailed descriptions of death and grief, Miscarriage, Domestic Violence & Mental Illness

Pen Pal by J.T Geissinger Review

Minor Spoilers

I picked up Pen Pal by J.T Geissinger thinking it was a spicy little dark romance. Like the synopsis says “nothing on earth could have prepared me for what happened next.” Turns out, Pen Pal is less dark prison romance and more paranormal erotic thriller. I’m not mad I read a paranormal erotic thriller, I just wish I had known that’s what it was going into it.

I listened to the audiobook for Pen Pal and the narrators did a fantastic job of bringing Aiden and Kayla to life. This was my first time listening to Tara Langella and Troy Duran and the performance was great. I love duet narrated audiobooks and will always recommend them if they are available. The listening experience, in my opinion, is superior.

Kayla has just buried her husband.

That’s when the letters start. Dante claims to know Kayla and they proceed to write back and forth. Kayla has zero idea who Dante is or how he knows her but she is curious to find out. Around the same time, weird things start happening in Kayla’s house. Electrical issues and strange sounds haunt Kayla as she grieves her late husband. And then, to top it off, her roof starts leaking. Enter Aiden, the sexy tattooed contractor she hires to fix it. Despite the emotional turmoil Kayla is going through, she cannot deny her attraction to Aiden.

In spite of Pen Pal not being a traditional dark romance, or even romance, I did enjoy it. The story is well written and if you go in blind like I did, your gasters will be flabbered. If Pen Pal had been properly labeled, would the twist ending have been as effective? No. It blindsides you because it’s marketed as dark romance. If it had been marketed as a paranormal romance, there would be no twists. Well, maybe there would be one or two twists but the major twist would not exist.

Every other week the book community is passionately debating whether romance must include a Happily Ever After or Happily For Now ending. Pen Pal ends in a non-traditional hea. This is a tragic love story with paranormal elements and the ending reflects that. The man responsible for everything Kayla has gone through, deserves what he got.

I’m interested in reading more of Geissinger’s books and I have since added Blackthorn and the Queens and Monsters series to my tbr.

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