Layla Robinson is not crazy. She is suffering from unrequited love. But it’s time to move on. No more stalking, no more obsessive calling. What she needs is a distraction. The blue-eyed guy she keeps seeing around campus could be a great one–only he is the new poetry professor–the married poetry professor. Thomas Abrams is a stereotypical artist–rude, arrogant, and broody–but his glares and … broody–but his glares and taunts don’t scare Layla. She might be bad at poetry, but she is good at reading between the lines. Beneath his prickly façade, Thomas is lonely, and Layla wants to know why. Obsessively.
Sometimes you do get what you want. Sometimes you end up in the storage room of a bar with your professor and you kiss him. Sometimes he kisses you back like the world is ending and he will never get to kiss you again. He kisses you until you forget the years of unrequited love; you forget all the rules, and you dare to reach for something that is not yours.
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This book had me captivated right from the beginning!! Saffron A Kent is a master at creating characters so real that you literally bleed for them. I don’t normally fall for the female main character but Layla definitely has my heart! Layla is a quirky, feisty young woman who has never had her love reciprocated. She had strong feelings for her step brother which went too far and he left her heart broken. She decides that she can’t go on living in this painful existence when she spot a gorgeous man with the bluest eyes, Thomas Abrams a famous poet and now professor . She decides to go to his classes and sets her eyes on him. She wants to help him, he seems so broody and dark, maybe she could take away his pain. He only wants to use her to help him forget the unrequited love from his wife. Saffron’s ability to write directly from a character’s soul is unique and refreshing.
Here’s a taste of Thomas: “It starts in my gut. Then it travels up to my chest and shoulders and I feel a raging pain in the back of my skull. That’s when I know I’m going to catch fire any second if I don’t stop thinking about you”
Quote 2 by Thomas: ” You’re in my fucking blood, and I’ll tear apart anyone who dares to fucking touch you!”
The sexy scenes are numerous and extremely hot. They aren’t all tender and sweet, this couple are both hurting and desperate to find love, wherever they can. Grab it ladies and get ready to have the ride of your lives. My best read so far in 2017!!!
***First read: 27th Jan, 2018***
***Third read: 27th June, 2020***
He –
“He is a writer. He writes, with those hands. They are little gods, aren’t they? They create things, words, poems. For someone like me, that’s extraordinary.”
She –
“…I was Layla Robinson, crazy in love with her stepbrother. Now, I’m Layla Robinson, crushing on her poetry professor.”
They –
“If I focus really hard, I can pretend we’re two people in love. This is what happens when your love is requited. You control each other; you live for each other.”
Thomas can be sympathized, his desperation to save his marriage rationalizes his affair perhaps not acceptable but when love unshared the heart strays. Mayhap the writing here proclaims reality which makes me consider Thomas’s deeds throughout the story bacause his treatment towards Layla and Hadley (partly) makes me irate and sorry. I don’t know what it feels to fall in love or feel one-sided love but I’m among one of those who love sappy romances and wants a HEA, perhaps that’s why I want Thomas to be happy.
Layla’s unstable nature is not a reason to accuse her to fall in love with two men, both unattainable. Her actions (stalking and obsessing) are predictable of a girl whose love is unreciprocated. Her character is a reflection of a girl in love, so realistically done. She is my favourite heroine. For majority of the book Layla is hurt, her self-loathing surprisingly makes it commendable because of the people in her life.
Both of them bond because of feelings unrequinted, for once greedily selfish for the other. I’m sympathetic towards Thomas, maybe my principle or theory of life may be questioned but when I think of Thomas and people like him, those who are wrong; what if people are misled by being right?
“We shouldn’t look for love stories where there are none to be found.”
The Harlot fell in love with the Fire-breather.
Saffron makes me want to be A Harlot , if only I can find a Fire breather with piercing blue eyes that stare right into my soul. This just about sums up the story of Doomed , Unrequited love . It will definitely seep into your soul and devour you.
It’s not just a book, it’s a peek into mangled hearts that saffron creates and then destroys with her skillful observation of Love and all its trimmings , sweet and sour !!!
Depth is misleading from the surface. Sometimes taking a plunge is the only way to find out if the water is too deep or just deep enough.
And JUST for that line , this book deserves an extra sixth star. !!
All new words, all new lines, all new vantage to look and feel the obsessive love. It’s like saffron takes 26 alphabets and knits a new language that hasn’t been written before. Her writing depth is unfathomable. You feel a pressure in your heart that threatens to explode as you dive deeper and deeper in this story. She hides the beauty in tragedy , covering them with layers of beautiful words
Creates such Magical characters like Thomas Abrams , a Professor of Poetry .
Thomas Abrams is magic. He’s a wordsmith, a baby whisperer, a blue-eyed asshole, but most of all, he’s like me: brokenhearted.
But he’s lost his words . Or rather disavowed and buried them
And this ” Me ” is Layla Robinson. She is a recovering Obsessive & spurned Lover. She’s trying to move on from her broken Unrequited love and when she spots Thomas one night , sitting alone on a bench in the park, she feels her heart tug . Her “Mud Vein” pulls her to him . You see they’re soulmates. Not neccessarily going to end up together like Loves of their Lives, but that invisible thread that connects them is unmistakable. They share the same Sickness of Unrequited Love
“Because unrequited love is like a dead, useless Vestigial organ. It’s functionless. It’s sicker than a disease. You can cure a disease, but you can’t fix a defective soul. That’s the most frustrating thing in the world, to be that powerless.”
I need to mention something here. Saffron writes very much like two of my fave Queens Of Pain – Sarah Ann Walker and Tarryn Fisher . This book smelled and tasted like the flavour of “Mud Vein” . Not in content , but in treatment and visualisation. The profound impact the writing has equals only to Tarryn’s. With so many taboo forbidden stories floating around, here comes a genius who shakes you by the shoulders to sit up and read . Read what its really like to feel the forbidden so hurtful that it seeps into your marrow and eats you like a cannibal . Saffron pulls off the rose tinted glasses off love and shows us the ugly, hurtful, painful, self-harming , suffocating side of UNREQUITED. I don’t know whether to applaud her or curse her !!
Oh my god, the words are still rattling inside me , even after I finished reading last night . And couldn’t sleep . I cried so hard, with a painful lump in my throat and I’m crying now because the words jumped out of the story and stuck to my hearts . Piercing and sticky.
“It’s like lyrics without music. It’s so easy to lose yourself in the beat of music, but lyrics keep you grounded. It keeps your mind active, you know. You have to pay attention, listen to it over and over to get its meaning, to read between the lines.Yeah. That’s why I like poetry. Because of the words. They ground me.”
And this is EXACTLY what her words are !. They will ground and float you.
I could quote the gazillion highlights from the book, I could write a lengthy review but I just wanna say
GO READ THIS BOOK . !!!!!!
It’ll Change your life & it’ll change your vision . You’ll look at love and life in a new crystal clear way, you’ve never looked before. Saffron is truely a brave writer , how she managed to write this story without going insane is commendable
bravery is not the absence of fear, but the courage to do something despite it
6 “Fire-Breather” stars. I could give 10 seriously !
This was one of the few books that I have read that actually lived up to the hype around it. The Unrequited by Saffron A. Kent was incredible! I don’t condone cheating what-so-ever; yet for some reason what happened between Thomas & Layla didn’t quite feel like that to me. They truly were the other half of each other. They understood each other in a way that nobody else did. The age gap between them didn’t mean anything – when you are meant for someone else, you will always find your way to them.
One of the best books I’ve read this year. One of the best books I’ve read period. This is only the 2nd book I’ve read by this author and I just have to say that Saffron A. Kent has a magical way of writing that makes you feel every single word deep in your soul – magical & poetic is how I would personally describe her writing.
The Unrequited isn’t what I expected at all. From the very beginning this book consumed me in a way that made me feel as if it as speaking to me. Not necessarily because I relate to the unrequited love, but because this story was so much more than that.
Layla Robinson is one of my all time favorite female main characters. For me personally, she could do not wrong even when she was “doing wrong.” Layla’s heart was full of love for others. I honestly couldn’t help fallen in love with her. She blamed herself for so much that wasn’t her fault and she thought to little of herself, but she was such an amazing person who believed in love.
Thomas Abrams was the complete opposite of Layla. He was truly a jerk; a Grade A – A-Hole, but man oh man I freaking loved him. As different as they were, Thomas and Layla were two people brought together by loneliness and need. A need that gravitated them towards each other. Thomas needed to gain the control he had lost and Layla needed to just feel – feel something; feel anything. Need – Need – Need – Layla & Thomas’ relationship was filled with need, with passion, with understanding.
One of the things I loved about this book is how poetry and words played a huge role not only in the way the story flowed but the role it played in the story itself; in Thomas and Layla’s world. Where Thomas was the poet, Layla was the one who had a way with words. She was so honest. She spoke from her heart. Thomas on the other hand was a brute mute without his poetry. Poetry was his outlet and it was the only way he knew how to communicate.
I know this review is all over the place and I don’t talk much about the story itself, but I don’t want to spoil anything at all. The Unrequited is a book you need to experience yourself, but I guarantee that Layla and Thomas will leave an everlasting impression.
This story/book spoke to me in so many ways. It made me really think about the many times I craved the need to be another person’s outlet. How I craved they unleashed their pain on me. I’ve listened to this book 3 times and I know it will be one of my most re-listen books of all time. On top of it being so beautiful and emotional, it was hot AF. Thomas is the ultimate a-hole with an extremely dirty mouth. He may have had a difficult time communicating or expressing his feelings, but the man sure had a very talented dirty mouth. The scenes between Thomas and Layla were intense af. Every scene was on fire.
Saffron A. Kent is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She truly has a way of captivating me with her stories.
Rating:
Heat:
TW/CW: Cheating and Death
Tropes: Professor/Student, Age Gap, Forbidden, MF Romance
The Unrequited was my first foray into the forbidden work of Kent and most definitely won’t be my last. I’ve longed for a book like this that is challenging and lascivious. Thomas and Layla ignited a fire in my soul that yearned for their desire and lust. A love that will either break you or mend the pieces of your heart back together. For those of you who cannot stomach a book so daring, steer clear.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Joe Arden and Anna Riordan. I wish for more of Thomas’ POV as Joe’s voice completely won me over. His portrayal of Thomas’ character kept me in a day long fantasy that I could not get enough of. This was my first time listening to the work of Anna. Her sensual voice made it all the more fitting for Layla’s character. I highly suggest you download.
The Unrequited by Saffron A Kent
Five Full Stars
World Building
Characters
Storytelling
Romance
HEA
Once in a while, you may be lucky to stumble across a pearl amongst the rubbish. This book is that pearl and I’m so glad that I found it.
As an author, Saffron Kent is new to me, and boy did she blow me away with The Unrequited. This follows two people who are drawn together for a short period of time, before things get out of hand. Layla Robertson, a student who is still getting over a one sided love affair from two years prior, and Thomas Abrams, a rude, arrogant and broody Poet and Professor who is in a loveless marriage he is desperately trying to hold together.
This is a forbidden romance, it’s primal and raw, lust filled, dirty and hurtful, but eventually the unspoken four letter word grew and bled through. Love is never easy even with those couples who are said to be meant for each other. Love can be painful, hurtful, rough, immature, and messy, and for these two, it was that tenfold.
The Unrequited is a page turner. This is a well written and crafted novel and I would recommend this to anyone who likes more than a run of the mill read.
Five stars are not enough for this book……..
This is one of my top reads for 2017. I don’t know that my words will do it justice.
This book was RAW, at times BRUTAL and so BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. The raw passion between Thomas and Layla just bleeds off the pages. I spent most of the book with a lump in my throat and butterflies in my stomach and my heart ached for these two.
Saffron Kent gave these characters a voice and I heard every word, felt every gut-wrenching emotion, she made my toes curl. The words are POWERFUL!!!!!
This is a MUST read!!! I promise once you start you won’t be able to put it down.
5+ BLUE JEANS STARS!!!
A couple of years ago I won a paperback of this new to me author and I has no idea how it would change my reading life. This was the first book I read by Saffron but it only took this story to make me her biggest fan. After reading this I read it three more times already besides reading many of her other books, I am truly hooked.
Every now and then you are lucky to find a truly amazing book. A story that grabs you heart, destroys it, put it back together but doesn’t give it back. My first time reading it was years ago but I can still feel all the goosebumps and butterflies that I felt since that moment in the park bench and later on the library. Blue Jeans by Lana Del Rey is one of my favorite songs because of this book, there isn’t a time that I hear it that I don’t remember Layla and Thomas amazingly complicated story. Nowadays Forbidden Romance is my all-time favorite genre in the romance world and I have this book to thank for.
I loved Layla and Thomas at first glimpse, each with their particularities. Layla was a little quirky and a lot of crazy and definitely my type of girl. She was unpredictable, captivating, a little bit unstable and obsessive, so intense, but there was something so unique about her. She made me love her brand of crazy and really cheer her on. Now Thomas, he was so closed off, moody and an ass most of the time. He is definitely not perfect, he made a lot of mistakes but I really felt for him and what he was going through. Gaaah I love him so much and I can’t even explain why, I just felt it.
Now…those two together, I have no words. They were an explosion of intensity, rawness, pain and lust. What they had was more than just love or chemistry, I felt their connection down to my bones and I knew regardless of where the story went they were meant for each other. This book was the perfect unrequited forbidden love story and till this day is my favorite of this author.
“Somehow, someway, I have developed a crush on him. I know he’s married. I know he’s an asshole, rude and mean and some kind of a genius poet-but maybe that’s the appeal.”
Review The Unrequited by Saffron A. Kent
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WOW. I cannot get enough of this author! I am sitting here breathless. Her words so eloquently beautiful and mesmerizing! I am convinced anything this author writes is pure genius. I am blown away and if you read one author this year make it Saffron.
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Layla is crazy and wonderful and I loved her so much. After an incident with her stepbrother Layla is basically banished from home and sent to another school far away. One night while out Layla comes across a mysterious beautiful man who speaks to her soul he has no idea she’s watching him but something about him calls to her and her obsessive personality. “ . ’ , .“ How will Layla deal with her new found obsession? Especially when she walks into her new class and sees the man she saw at night now standing at the front of her class and is her new poetry teacher.
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Thomas WOW. That man is breathtaking. Sexy, unattainable, and forbidden. Thomas is married and has a kid. He should never have taken a notice to Layla the new girl no matter how striking her violet eyes are. But the saying you “always want what you can’t have” doesn’t work here because Layla is willing to give and that’s something Thomas hasn’t had in quite sometime, a physical connection with someone.. not all is as it seems at home for Thomas. “ ’ . ’ , ?” . “ ’ . ’ .” “,” .“
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5-Forbidden-Sexy-Fire-Breather Steam5/5
Wow wow wow wow wow wow!
This was just OMG! LOVED THIS BOOK.
One of Saffron best. The way she wrote this was ugh everything. Full of emotional,sexual tension and just the chemistry between these two was off the charts insane. This was a slight taboo feel to it and some might be put off. But I promise you please give it a chance. This book had it all. And the way Saffron writes is like pure poetry. She just makes you feel and this book took me on a wheel of feels. I had all the feels and it was amazing. One of my fave reads by her. You learn also alot about yourself from this book and I found myself resonating with some parts of this story I liked thag it was complex and layered.
Of all the Saffron Kent books I’ve read, this perhaps is the most emotionally intense, the most raw. The Unrequited is gripping, there’s a nuance and complexity to the forbidden components that make them somehow feel more AND less taboo. More because of the layers of illicitness when it comes to the dynamics of these two (student-teacher, power, cheating) yet somehow less because the deep and flawed humanity that Saffron gives them- their pain, their isolation, their unstableness, that feels somehow bigger and more provocative than the taboo itself. This is a story of love that both catalyzes and destroys, a love story that is not black and white.
So, if the thought of checking your carefully architected romantic morays at the door seems unappealing, then Thomas and Layla’s version of finding love may not be for you. But, if you are open to a love story unconventional, haunting, destructive but beautiful, then saddle up- these two will put you through it. Saffron is showing us how love that some may consider ugly can be beautiful, however wrong it may seem. How sometimes we can not control when a connection finds us. We can control our actions, sure- but sometimes, a deep and meaningful connection pushes us to do things we might not have otherwise. And so are Thomas and Layla- a married professor and a college student. Both broken by their unrequited love- not to each other, but to another. Alone, in pain, MISSING something they can’t seem to grasp.
Layla is so an unpredictable and captivating character, unstable at times as she works through some of her mental health issues. She’s a heroine that captures you in her difference- a character who endears you by her emotional complexity, but also gives you pause from her eccentricities, especially her obsession. But I really cared for her, and the more I read, the more I felt like I was living through her- her thirst to connect, how her infatuation consumes, her chaotic and sprawling emotions. You at first are taken aback by her reckless passion, and then suddenly you feel such empathy and connection with her- such is the charm of how Saffron writes her heroines. They are both “other” yet somehow also “us.”
And Thomas, well, you do empathize with him, even though he’s a cheater. He’s imperfect, at odds with the life he has and the life he wants, and he makes what some consider unforgivable actions. But I loved him- I loved his passion, his fractures. And, I don’t think Saffron excuses him- she just lets him exist, lets his actions be both repugnant and somehow desperately brave.
There are not words to describe the energy between these two- it is more than chemistry. It’s elemental. Saffron builds it slowly, the story’s pace inches forward at first- I felt restless, twitchy. But once the flame ignites, OH LAWDY. Not only is this book HOT as tell, but moody, melancholic atmosphere just radiates.
In the end, this is a story about two people who want to love, who aren’t loved back. The hurt, the pain that brings them- but ultimately, the connection and camaraderie it brings them. The match that lights a fire that can never be extinguished. Have an open mind, and an open heart, and you can’t not be completely devoured by this story.
Saffron A. Kent’s The Unrequited is outside of the box when it comes to typical love stories but that is a huge reason I was so drawn to this story. Layla is such a dynamic character and I think deep down we all have a little bit of her inside of us. This taboo love story is captivating and has so much angst that you will not be able to focus on anything else until you know how it ends.
Finally a unique spin on the student/teacher story.
This was a troubling book, a topic of low self esteem, self loathing, depression, suicide attempt, rough sex. I felt the author was talented in story telling and such but so much of it was distasteful. Wishing the next one to be less depressing, during a Pandemic we need things that lift us up or just thought provoking. I think this author has a gift and with a change of topic would be able to write a very compelling book.
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: new adult, student/teacher, angsty, age gap, steamy
*TW for cheating and mentions of de@th*
There aren’t words enough to describe how phenomenal this book is. Saffron’s way to tell stories is poetic and she is one of these few authors whose stories are unique.
This book deals with loneliness, longing and unrequited love, from two different perspectives: Layla who deals with heartbreak and Thomas who is in a failed marriage.
Since they meet, there is undeniable chemistry between them and if you add same life struggles, their connection gets stronger.
Although the story is dual POV, most chapters are told thru Layla’s eyes, hence why I completely fell for her. I laughed, cried and suffered with her story, but I’m glad how much her character grow thru the book.
Meanwhile, I had mixed feelings with Thomas. At first he frustrated me with his mixed emotions, but after the second half I understood him and fell for him as well.
Together they have a passionate relationship, with a lot of steamy scenes and all the feels, but finally they’ve got their well deserved HEA.
Overall, I had a great time reading this and I highly recommend it!!
This book was so beautifully written that I felt like I was living in the character’s emotions the entire time I was reading it. I felt myself breathing heavily, crying, cringing, and wanted to bite my fist and punch the air.
Saffron Kent is a genius with words and anyone who says different needs to get their head on straight.
Thomas and Layla’s story was so unexpected and there were so many times I wanted to shake them both.
Layla’s unabashed, outspoken and rash weirdness drew me in immediately. What kept me drawn to this book from start to finish was their tortured love that you just wanted to break free.
Soooo, I hate to do this but I could not finish this book. I got to 51% of the book and just couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve been wanting to read The Unrequited for some time now too. It was just not what I was expecting. I really struggled with the main characters and their “chemistry”. I struggled with Layla. I sadly just couldn’t anymore with this book.
I have loved Saffron’s past work and recent work. It was just the case of this specific book not being the one for me.
#avidreaderbookblog #readingislife #bookblogger #bookaddict #bookworm #books #agegap #angst #betrayal #containscheating #dark #didnotfinish #dirtytalker #forbidden #reading #saffronakent
You simply must meet Thomas! If you haven’t read this classic, grab it quick. Saffron A. Kent(??) is about to take it out of KU. Good news for fans of other platforms! Here’s our review:
A request for student/teacher recommendations brought me to Saffron’s work. The Unrequited turned me instant fan. Kent’s style is poetic, and colorful- and all the more beautiful bc she writes about broken people. Thomas and Layla’s lovestory is not happy-go-lucky boy meets bubbly-cute girl. But if you read romance to experience all the thrill and uncertainty (and heartache and bliss) as lust evolves into love, then you MUST read this book. There are moments painted in this book so vivid- I see them, visceral and real, long after I’ve turned the last page. And to pass bc this book contains cheating is to rob yourself of one of the best angst-filled romances I’ve read to date.
I don’t know what it is about Saffron’s books, but I always have such a huge book hangover (in the best possible way!) after every book I’ve ever read by her. It’s hard to adequately describe my feelings after reading this book. I loved Layla and Thomas so much. It was heartbreaking, happy, sad, funny, just every emotion was felt at some point. Saffron’s books always feel like a whirlwind, with such great writing and imagery scattered throughout! Really makes you feel everything the characters are feeling. Such great life lessons in all of her books, too. Loved!!!