Review: Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

Away games, back seats, and the locker room after hours . . . Get ready!

CLAY

Marymount girls are good girls. We’re chaste, we’re untouched, and even if we weren’t, no one would know, because we keep our mouths shut.

Not that I have anything to share anyway. I never let guys go too far. I’m behaved.

Beautiful, smart, talented, popular, my skirt’s always pressed, and I never have a hair out of place. I own the hallways, walking tall on Monday and dropping to my knees like the good Catholic girl I am on Sunday.

That’s me. Always in control.

Or so they think. The truth is that it’s easy for me to resist them, because what I truly want, they can never be. Something soft and smooth. Someone dangerous and wild.

Unfortunately, what I want I have to hide. In the locker room after hours. In the bathroom stall between classes. In the showers after practice. My head swimming. My hand up her skirt.

For me, life is a web of secrets. No one can find out mine.  

OLIVIA

I cross the tracks every day for one reason–to graduate from this school and get into the Ivy League. I’m not ashamed of where I come from, my family, or how everyone at Marymount thinks my skirts are too short and my lipstick is too red.

Clay Collins and her friends have always turned up their noses at me. The witch with her beautiful skin, clean shoes, and rich parents who torments me daily and thinks I won’t fight back.

At least not until I get her alone and find out she’s hiding so much more than just what’s underneath those pretty clothes.

The princess thinks I’ll scratch her itch. She thinks she’s still pure as long as it’s not a guy touching her.

I told her to stay on her side of town. I told her not to cross the tracks.

But one night, she did. And when I’m done with her, she’ll never be pure again.  

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This is my first FF romance so it’s different from a lot of recent reads but it’s unmistakably Penelope Douglas. Clay and Liv are likable characters, despite Clay’s spoiled-rich-girl persona. Her life may look perfect to others but there’s a lifetime of heartache and pain under the thin veneer of happiness. Liv’s got a unique family situation with her five brothers now that her parents are gone.

Clay’s the popular rich girl who bullies the girl from the other side of the tracks in an effort to hide her biggest insecurity. This is about accepting yourself and having the confidence to be true to yourself. Clay was difficult to like at first because she’s the most vicious bully but as we learn more about her home life, you can’t help but pity her for everything she’s dealing with. I liked Liv immediately but began losing patience with her because she doesn’t defend herself but we eventually learn that the rich kids get away with everything so retaliation just means the victims suffer more. Fighting back will just make them target her more so Liv survives by counting down the days until she gets to leave for Dartmouth.

This is the haves-versus-the have-nots with a twist as Clay struggles with her sexuality, living in fear and closeted. Liv helps her be real and be true to herself, but is Clay strong enough to follow her heart? There are villains in this story but the biggest obstacles for the MC’s are their own self-doubt. Clay has already lost so much, she can’t face the possibility of losing what’s left of her family if they reject her. Liv exists solely to get out and move on, but she carries immense guilt at the prospect of leaving her family. This is a tough coming-of-age story with rough edges and no sugar-coating, but the characters rise to the challenge.

The supporting cast is very compelling here, offering opportunities for a series. I’d love to see Liv’s brothers get their own stories and find out what happens for Kristjen and Clay’s parents. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Douglas will give us more Jaeger brothers because I’d read the hell out of that series. This is a good book and I highly recommend it.