{A Carlson Brothers Review} Forget Your Morals by Sarah Blue

Forget Your Morals by Sarah Blue
Series: The Carlson Brothers #2, The Carlson Brothers
on June 23rd, 2024
Genres: Fiction, Adult, Romance, Erotica
Buy on Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Available with KU Subscription, Storygraph
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He was supposed to be a stranger, someone on the other side of the wall who’s there to please me and me them. No matter how much I try, I can’t stop thinking about the man who can make my fantasies come to life in a way no one else has. Nothing could have prepared me for the reveal of my mystery man.

I was supposed to be working on myself, trying to figure out my identity outside of my family or a boyfriend. Which led me to explore my desires at the local club, Avalon. And what I found there was more than I bargained for.

He’s not just funny, attentive, and slightly obsessed with me. He’s also the last man I should be falling in love with.

I was on a mission to find out who I was, and I did, just in the arms of a man who is forbidden to me—Lincoln Carlson. I just hope we don’t destroy our families in the wake of our desire, because no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to stay away.

Forget Your Morals is an interconnected standalone with Swallow Your Pride being a linear timeline, these books can be read in either order.

I received Forget Your Morals for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Where do I even start with this review? I can say I am 100% certain I have never read a story like Forget Your Morals before. It is a forbidden love story where their love might be forbidden morally, legally it is not.

Lincoln and Penny were brought up as part of a tight nit family. Penny was adopted by her parents at the age of two while Lincoln is the biological child of Penny’s adoptive mother’s sister. So, they are cousins who never looked at each other in a romantic light. Lincoln is not one for relationships since his last one imploded four years earlier. Penny seems to jump from one loser to the next, not knowing who she really is or wants to be without a guy at her side. It takes her latest boyfriend slapping her across the face to make her realize she needs to reevaluate her life. This leads Penny to take charge of what she wants in her day-to-day life as well as her sexual fantasies no-one has been willing to try with her.

Club Avalon has just started a new program where Penny could have a completely anonymous sexual encounter. The participants agree upon terms through an online portal and the club takes care of the rest. Her first encounter goes so well, she agrees to another. She wonders about her unnamed partner and takes a chance to find him at a masquerade party held at the public area of Club Avalon. She does meet him, but is shocked to learn the man she’d been with was Lincoln. Since they aren’t biologically related, it isn’t really wrong, but there are implications that could be detrimental to their family if they continue. While Penny is more hesitant than Lincoln, they can’t stay away from each other for long.

There are so many ways that both of these characters grow over the course of the story. Lincoln learns how to release his past relationship and become a more pleasant version of himself. You might say while this is a forbidden romance, it could also be a grumpy/sunshine story. Penny presents herself as a sunshine character, but in reality she’s that way around people so she doesn’t have to find her true self. After her encounters with Lincoln, she chooses to go back to therapy while also looking for her biological parents. She knows she has abandonment issues since she feels she wasn’t wanted after spending over a year in the care of her biological parents. The fact that she and Lincoln were raised as cousins leads her to believe if they reveal themselves to the family, they will choose Lincoln over her. At the time, she is working for Lincoln’s older brother, Aiden, and has no friends her own age. Her fear of being totally alone is what holds her back from revealing her relationship with Lincoln.

I can sympathize with Penny on many points. Not knowing where you want to go in life, not having friends to lean on, and not feeling a part of your family are heavy burdens to carry while still maintaining a happy facade. While Penny stumbles and struggles to bring the pieces of herself together, Lincoln is right by her side cheering her on. I love how Blue takes her characters from the simple grump and sunshine and layers them with such complex personalities. Nothing is just skin deep when it comes to Penny and Lincoln. They both go through an enormous metamorphosis as they learn to love each other and hope others will see past who they are related to. Blue takes these two characters on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, but bring us a rocky road to acceptance.

One thing that might be strange for the reader is that this book takes place parallel to the first book in the series, Swallow Your Pride, Jessa and Aidan’s story. It is nice to see a little of their story peeking around the edges of the developing love story of Lincoln and Penny. There are still the twins, Gavin and Ben, left in the Carlson clan. I’m excited to see what Sarah Blue has in store for these goofball brothers as the series continues.