Book Review: Poison Flower (Stonehurst Prep Elite Book 2) by Steffanie Holmes

Title: Poison Flower (Stonehurst Prep Elite Book 2)
Author: Steffanie Holmes
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, Reverse Harem
Rating: 3,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon

Victor. Torsten. Cassius – the jock, the artist, the stepbrother.
They made me theirs – body, heart, and soul.
They got inside my head.
They broke down my defenses and made me trust them
… maybe even love them.They betrayed me.

They think they’re untouchable,
but they forget that I’m one of them.
I’m the poison flower in their garden,
beautiful and deadly,
hiding in plain sight.

I know all their secrets,
Their weaknesses,
Their darkest desires,
And I’m going to make them pay.

Poison Kiss is a new adult, dark contemporary romance with three hot, dangerous guys and the blind girl who rules them. It is intended for 18+ readers.

Poison Flower is the second book in a reverse harem series featuring three notorious bad boys: Victor, Cassius (usually referred to as Cas) and Torsten. I previously reviewed the first book in the series, Poison Ivy.

I thoroughly enjoyed Poison Ivy, so I was dying to read the sequel, Poison Flower. Unfortunately, the things that bugged me about Poison Ivy only magnified in Poison Flower, and I was left feeling ‘meh’ about the book.

First of all, in Poison Ivy it is already hinted that the male love interests (Victor, Cassius and Torsten) are part of three notorious crime families. Their mothers form the Triumvirate, in typical Roman-era style, and together they rule the criminal underworld. I found some of the sub-plots related to this already far-fetched in the first book, but it only gets worse here. Murder, torture, blackmail, you name it, and it happens. But it’s not realistic, nor is the way the heroine deals with it.

I still liked Fergie, the main character, but she’s obviously diving off the deep end and I don’t want to see her at the bottom of the abyss. It looks like she’s headed there, though. She had every chance to get out, to redeem herself, but she’s only allowing everyone else to pull her back further and futher into this crime world. Fergie has a strong personality, sometimes, but she allows others to influence her more than she thinks or realizes.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, but I’m not sure if I’ll pick up book three. I’m a bit disillusioned with Fergie and her antics. I do have to say I really enjoy Steffanie Holmes’ writing though, and reading the synopsises of her other series, I’ll definitely pick them up, but I’ll probably skip Poison Kiss.