Review: Watch Me Burn by Melissa Toppen

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Enticing Journey Book Promotions.

Originally released in 2013 as the Breathless trilogy, composed of Consumed, Taken, and Released, Melissa Toppen has merged those three parts and has re-released them as one full-length novel, Watch Me Burn. Since I never had the opportunity to read the story when it was published a little over eight years ago and Toppen is an author whose work I've consistently enjoyed, I went into this book with excitement. The author introduces readers to Eden Grant, a woman who so loved her boyfriend of eight years that she left the life she knew in Vermont to move with him to Vegas only to have him unceremoniously break up with her and demand she leave the apartment they shared less than four months later. With her heart shattered and her future in limbo, she needs to re-calibrate her life and re-assess her priorities. The last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of Liam Mason. He's gorgeous and sexy, but he's also very clearly a playboy, and Eden isn't looking to get her heart broken again. But like a moth to a flame, she may not be able to resist this man.

I don't know what, if any, changes were made when Melissa Toppen decided to condense her Breathless trilogy into a single book, so I can't make any comparisons. That being said, I quite enjoyed Eden and Liam's romance. I loved the fact that Eden wasn't some helpless and hapless female who needed a man to make herself whole. She had a strong backbone and she knew what her worth was and didn't simply roll over and give in to Liam. That being said, there is A LOT more to the man than meets the eye. He's got a cache of secrets, and he isn't exactly all that forthcoming, but then that isn't a shocker. As his walls are peeled back, we see that there's been darkness in his past, and as much as he helps Eden move forward from her ex, she does the same for him in so many ways. Alongside these interesting main characters are unforgettable side characters as well, which I think is always a bonus because they add more layers and flavor to the overall story. As always, Toppen's writing leaves me impressed, and handing Watch Me Burn 4.5 stars is easy-peasy.

Release Date: 28 January 2022

Date Read: 27 January 2022

Learn more about Melissa Toppen.

Purchase Watch Me Burn on Amazon.