The Nora Theory

The Darkmore Penitentiary Series by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti is set in the same world as The Zodiac Academy and The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac but with a distinctly different feel than the books in the rest of the universe. The characters are older, and more jaded, and instead of beginning in a collegiate setting, these characters start their journey in the walls of a notorious prison.

Avid readers of this universe will notice that the first book in the series, Caged Wolf, picks up ten years after we left off with Roary and Rosalie, supporting characters in The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac. That said, readers can fully enjoy this series without previously reading the other series in the universe.

Roary has been an inmate at Darkmore Penitentiary for ten years, and Rosalie blames herself. So she sets her mind to an impossible task. Breaking him out. But the start of her plan is to get locked up with him, and Darkmore Penitentiary has plenty of surprises waiting for this wild wolf. There’s a vampire guard who can’t seem to stay away from her, a rival wolf, an unhinged incubus, and of course, Roary himself, who still insists on seeing Rosalie as the little girl she was when he was sent away. And then there’s the prison itself, a cruel place that’s hiding even crueler secrets.

Rosalie is a fantastic heroine, not only because she’s a Taurus like me. She’s also highly confident, endlessly sassy, with a stubborn streak that goes for miles. Her love interests are four wildly different men in wildly different circumstances, and they make perfect foils for each other.

I don’t normally love jail stories, because I am seriously claustrophobic and hate the whole idea of jail. Which is why I live a life of books instead of a life of crime. But Darkmore Penitentiary is a magical prison, which takes some of the edge off, and the plot moves so fast that it’s hard to feel claustrophobic in the pages of these books. It’s a four-book series, but the pages just fly by.

There is tons of tension in this series, both sexual and plot-wise. Every other chapter is an earth-shattering high-stakes situation. The cliffhangers are intense and will leave you picking your jaw up off the floor, so it’s perfect for binge reading.

The Darkmore Penitentiary series is at its core, campy magical fun. The plot is wild, the characters are wilder, and it never wavers in its entertainment value. There are some typos and some cringe-inducing moments, but it’s like a fantasy soap opera that you just can’t put down.

Writing: 3.5

Spice: 3