The Final Gambit -- Review

✨3/5✨

Spice: 🌶

Tropes: brother love triangle

I really wanted to love this book. And it’s not the worst I ever read. The whole book I just kept waiting for Grayson to open up and Avery to realize her feelings for him. But the problem is she didn’t and while I usually wouldn’t rate a book poorly for its romantic choice, I do think this was a mistake. Grayson was the best match for Avery. Jameson is cool and all, but he doesn’t make sense to her. In this whole book, both characters flip personalities. Like I wasn’t sold one way or another, but it’s obvious who should have ended up with who and it’s NOT who was chosen in the end.

Avery loved Grayson (the author made that so clear), but she settles for Jameson.

Jameson, the whole book, never stops talking about how he wants to be like Grayson because Avery loves Grayson. Avery, the whole book, is consoling him about how she loves him and not Grayson, but then she’s like but I do love Grayson.

The thing that destroyed this book for me was the ending because it literally made zero sense. Like the bad guy kidnaps people, was threatening people, and the way you get him to stop is by beating him at chess and having him pinky promise not to do it again. Seriously? 🤬😤

Oh! And we let him keep an expensive chess set because he’s just such a great guy 🤮🙄

Like seriously this is how you end this high-stakes series. I didn’t mind the chess match, but I needed more. And if the dude values women so little, why send Eve at all? Toby is barely present in this book and is so passive it hurts my soul. And Eve is just what? Supposed to be redeemed because Avery’s mom would have seen good in her. Surprise, she’s a terrible person. She was going to kill your “other daughter," Toby.

The whole series I knew Avery was going to give the money away. I’m glad she kept some of it, but I also hate how she said she wasn’t going to grow it? So f*ck your future family I guess?

The series is good. The last book is awful.