For The Night is another really hopeful yet painful romance from author Rae Lyse. As I've come to expect from Rae Lyse, there are well written and diverse who are lovable yet complex. The story unfolds in a way that only Rae Lyse can tell a story and the characters are a world away from me and what I know, but I feel for them and want the best for them (even the genuinely unlikable ones, the ones you're not supposed to root for).

In For The Night, we meet recently divorced elementary school teacher Venus who can only be described as a hot mess.

Rae Lyse writes Venus in a way that makes you feel pity and sometimes shame for her. I mean, Venus has let her ex-husband, his awful mother, and his affair change her entire perception of herself mostly because she made a man the center of her world. Then we learn that Venus misses someone she never knew - her mother, who died in childbirth - and you understand her a lot differently.

If you had any space for another complex character, Rae Lyse brings in heartbroken Anthony aka Nuney, who I could best describe as a 24 year old man grieving the loss of boyhood, which comes with a whole host of problems for him, his daughter Toriana, and, ultimately, Venus.

With this slow burn Rae Lyse tells a story of self-love and confidence, second chances, breaking generational curses, and finding the beauty in the most mundane parts of life. Of course, there's an emotional investment in the story, and reading For The Night takes a bit more time, but if you're looking for a romance story with the ultimate payoff, I highly recommend all the books in the Sun Series by Rae Lyse, but especially For The Night, it is her best work in the series - highly recommend.