Review: Rhenna Morgan’s TRUSTED & TRUE.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I have a family history of addiction & drug & alcohol abuse & I was both wondering how those topics would be treated in a romance & also aware that I was coming to the table with my own experiences & feelings on the topic.

Now that I’ve offered that review caveat I’ll say that in general I love redemption stories + second chance stories, how much hope they offer & how satisfying the narrative arc often is, & in the case of Trusted & True by Rhenna Morgan, protagonist Callie Moore is clearly invested in making good choices & in “making amends.”

She’s obviously done a lot of work thinking about her past actions, triggers, and motivations & leans heavily on the things that help her stay healthy & safe.

In general I really enjoyed Rhenna Morgan’s focus on blue collar leads & found family with this romance, & the hero Danny’s admissions that professionally, he’s not satisfied.

But I have two big problems with this romance. First, the relationship between Danny & Callie just moves so quickly. The end, in particular, feels rushed.

Second, two of Callie’s past actions—really big & tbh troubling admissions—are just lobbed into the plot & then they’re pretty easily dismissed by the characters…but not by me. Callie made a huge mistake when she was a teen in particular—one that makes me feel very uncomfortable but the other characters are kind of like, oh it’s okay (obviously exaggerating some here).

I believe in second chances but the execution of a second chance arc just doesn’t totally work for me in this book. Maybe if these were things the characters had started to process before the book started—instead of being quickly introduced in this book—it would have been more successful for me.

2.5 ⭐️. Release date: 05/24


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CW: past alcohol & drug abuse. When Callie was a teen she lied about attempted sexual assault, apparently ultimately contributing to her father’s death. Her father introduced her to drinking & his behavior encouraged it. Parental abandonment.

ID: a white hand holds up an ebook in front of a crowded white bookcase.