Narrated by Tanya Eby
Jagged is the second book in Lauren Dane’s Whiskey Sharp series set in Seattle, which began earlier this year with Unraveled. While I think it’s possible to understand the story and enjoy it as a stand-alone, the romance between Vicktor Orlov and Rachel Dolan really begins in the first book and there is a lot of set up about the Rachel’s family dynamics, so I think it is best listened to after Unraveled.
Jagged is a stronger book than the first one – it doesn’t have the same setup work to do and less time is spent on the family issues revolving around Rachel’s parents trying to get a conservatorship over her. In Unraveled (in which Rachel’s sister Maybe is the heroine and Vicktor’s cousin, Alexsei, is the hero) I found Richard Dolan a very over the top character and I struggled to understand his motivation. In Jagged, his actions are still over the top but because they don’t take up as much space in the book (and perhaps because I knew the backstory) his reasoning (such as it was) was easier to accept and parse.
There is very little keeping Rachel and Vicktor apart. They’ve been circling each other for some time and when Jagged begins, a few days after the events of Unraveled, he makes his move and the pair quickly become lovers. Their relationship is delightful. Vicktor is the perfect boyfriend; thoughtful, successful, funny and gorgeous, with just enough of a protective urge that doesn’t in any way seek to smother Rachel.
Rachel still carries significant trauma from when, as an FBI agent in Washington DC, she was kidnapped by a serial killer and held for three weeks, being emotionally and physically tortured. The details of her ordeal as doled out over the course of the book and they never get particularly gruesome, painting just enough of a picture to give the listener a clear idea of the kinds of things she had to deal with in that time without ever getting close to torture porn. Still, the subject matter may be triggering for some listeners and caution is advised. (There is no sexual assault referenced, if that helps.)
Because Rachel had been so traumatised by what had happened to her, I was absolutely fine with a pretty easy romance for her. There isn’t a lot of conflict between Vicktor and Rachel – plenty of scorching sexual chemistry but they don’t seriously fight or split up once they are together. Instead, the picture is of a lovely growing romantic bond.
However, for all the lack of conflict between the protagonists, the story is not at all boring. Rachel has taken a long time to get to the point where she could contemplate a relationship and she is still healing from her trauma. There is also explicit acknowledgement in the text that she always will be. And there is also the threat from her dad, trying to take over her life (literally) which is peppered throughout the book as well. This is a real risk to the romance because if her dad is successful, he will take Rachel away from Maybe, Vicktor and the rest of the Orlovs, who have all become family to her. Rachel does not wish to be caged ever again and what her dad is trying to do is exactly that. So there are interesting parallels about freedom and the lack thereof going on throughout the book.
Rachel is a brave and compelling character and Vicktor is just wonderful. He gives the appearance of an alpha male in his physicality but he’s all cinnamon roll. He’s no pushover – he’s happy to stand his ground, but he does not push Rachel for more than she is ready for and he is ever sensitive to her needs and responsive to them.
Tanya Eby is one of my favourite narrators so I was happy knowing she would be reading Jagged. I did wonder, I admit, whether she might overdo Vicktor’s Russian accent. In Unraveled he was described as having basically no accent. He was born and raised in the US after all. I needn’t have worried. At the start of Jagged, Vicktor is described as having a mild Russian accent, the influence of his Russian parents and Ms. Eby gives Vicktor a delightful hint of his Russian heritage but not more than that. Every now and then his Russian comes out a bit more but it is at entirely appropriate points in the story. There are other times when he sounds American and this fit perfectly too.
The narration is to the usual excellent standard I’ve come to expect from Tanya Eby, with great timing, tension and tone. She is very good at delivering the intimate scenes with emotion – something which enhances the connection between the characters.
I admit that I had already requested Jagged before I listened to Unraveled. I liked the first book okay but if Jagged was not already on my TBL I may not have picked it up. That would have been a mistake. Vicktor and Rachel were a wonderful couple and I’d have been missing out indeed to have skipped their book.
Kaetrin
Buy Whiskey Sharp: Jagged by Lauren Dane on Amazon
