Forged in Flames

Made of Steel, Book 2

By: Ivy Smoak

Narrated by: Elizabeth Hart

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

It's hard to be consumed by revenge when my heart feels like it's breaking in two. A part of me is still in love with Miles. I think I always will be. He embodies everything I thought my life could be. Every hope and dream and wish. But I'm not the girl he remembers.  

And I'd be lying if I said I haven't started to fall for the New York City vigilante. He's the only other person who knows what it's like to live behind a mask. There's a darkness in him that mirrors my own. He embraces my broken soul.  

But I'm tired of all the secrets, masks, and lies. I don't need a man to save me. I'm the superhero of my own story. And all I need to focus on right now is Don Roberts - a monster far worse than I ever imagined - before he unleashes the Mafia on this city and ruins any chance I have at a new life.

©2017 Ivy Smoak (P)2019 Tantor

Dumb heroine

Why , oh why fid I put my faith in an author to brighten up her FMC . This FMC is then most clueless , dumbest FMC I’ve ever read ! Omg. I thought book one was bad? This one she’s worst. She sits there and says she’s mAde of steel , she is done being clueless, her turn to call the shots, but all she did was get more stupid! Geeze... I never thought a character could be this bad! Don’t waste your time on this book. U can get the same common sense from an infant .

Great Narrator poor Character

This book had a lot of potential however it's a very frustrating story and Summer may be the worst character ever developed. Very disappointed.

Suspenseful.

💜 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝔹𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 💜

Forged in Flames by Ivy Smoak, book two of the Made in Steel trilogy. I've been trying to figure out what to put for this review but I'm still not sure. I was going to just copy my review of book one but I didn't want to do that either.

❝𝑆𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝐸𝑙𝑖, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉? 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐴 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝐸𝑙𝑖 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑉 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠.❞

Although I liked the plot of book one and two and think the books had a lot of potential, I feel like the author has just had one too many genres and everything has gotten way to twisted and confusing. The most frustrating part for me is that the identity of the vigilante has STILL not been revealed but I know without a doubt exactly who it is and if Summer/Sadie really "loves" that person, I don't understand how she can't "feel" that it's him.

As for the audio, Hart has done a great job of differentiating the female and male voices but again there are a couple of male characters with dialogue and those voices were very similar so if I zoned out for a minute or two of listening I would have to rewind to make sure I knew exactly which of the three guys that Summer/Sadie was talking to.

I've made it this far, and again I do actually like the plot so I'm going to continue on to book three and the conclusion of the Made of Steel trilogy.

Where is this heroine's heart?

This heroine is unbelievably terrible. She is stupid, dependent and a slut. How could she sleep around with the men characters? I kept listening just because I wanted to know what's behind the present and who these characters really were.

i seriously wanted to love this story.

This was a ridiculous at times story that was drawn out over 3 books for nothing but a waste of reading, listening and money. The story was so dumb at times. It had sweet parts and the mystery but it was boring and redundant.

Pitiful

This is entirely too long! Characters flaws become overwhelming unbelievable and makes a educated person just close the book!

She's stupid

I can't even finish this book.. She's a ho.. plain and simple... Yes she had it horrible, yes she's got a right to be messed up in the head, but stringing 3 guys along, and trying to be "normal" when you know someone is trying to kill you and then knowing you're "in love" with someone but still screw someone else when you've never seen their face, and then the "undercover" cop... please... it's too much, too stupid, and just I can't. I swear if she narrator would have kept pronouncing vigilante the way she was I wouldn't have made it as far as I did. It was driving me crazy.. She's the poor victim, yet, all the things she keeps doing and not doing, she's just as bad and all the whining.. maybe this maybe that.. it's annoying.

Frustrated

The audible is constantly freezing and stuttering. I could go one chapter without missing something every 2 minutes. I have iPhone 11 and air pods pro and the phone was on my lap. So i know there was something wrong with the player. Upset because what promised to be a great story was really reduced to nothing short of frustrating.

A trilogy should have been one book

If you like people who make decisions, then you won’t like this book. The main character is annoying and can’t ever decide what to do about anything. The flip flopping is irritating. The trilogy should have been one book and cut out all the endless indecision. Each book ends on a cliffhanger that barely moves you forward. One character wears a mask for 3 books. He manages to eat, sleep and have sex with the mask on. It’s not sexy, it’s funny. The story is mildly entertaining, but just takes too long to get anywhere. If I didn’t have the package that gets these types of books for free, I would have been mad at purchasing the first book with a credit. The reader was good.

Couldn't she have written this in 2 books?

I enjoyed this 2nd book more than the 1st because there was more movement towards some answers. We still don't know who the vigilante is but there is a surprise about Eli that wasn't expected. We also find a crazy relative who spurts out a story about Summers parents and especially her mother that we're not sure is believable. Some unexpected twists and turns made the book a 4 star for me.

There are times I don't like the main character. Sadie/Summer has a relationship with 3 men who love her and a crazy pedophile who wants her back. She is indecisive about how she feels about the 3 men but finally and eventually she decides the qualities she is attracted to in each of them. Sometimes her character behaves childishly and makes silly and immature mistakes that is irritating. She adds nothing to helping her own cause instead she relies on others, complains and withdraws to her memories of her childhood.

I believe I know the mysteries that will be revealed and if I'm right I believe the story could have been written in 2 books instead of 3. Nontheless I am looking forward to finishing Book 3 so that all questions will be answered.

Male voice a real turn off

I really like Ivy’ books, they always have a bit of a dark undercurrent and of course smoking hot. The narrator for the male voices in this novel however was a real turn off, so much so I just couldn’t listen anymore. I have the book and will read instead to find out what happens to Summer. So sorry for the negative feedback just ruined the whole storytelling for me.