Thorn In My Side (Sweetpea #4) by C. J. Skuse

Format: Audio (BorrowBox)
Read: October 2025

I don’t know how she did it, but Rhiannon really sucked me into her world! Each book has been able to add more character growth. The second book saw her deal with pregnancy, the third one was her struggles with adapting to a whole new life and identity, and this fourth book was really about the stabilising power of love.

The book is set a couple of years following the end of the last one, and it is now mid-COVID pandemic, and Rhiannon is living as Ophelia with her boyfriend, Rafael and his family in San Diego. She’s doing well, they’re happy, planning a wedding, she is a genuine part of the family and hasn’t killed for over 800 days… But she’s thought about it a lot.

While Rhiannon has learned that being loved and loving those around her – actually having a life to lose –  makes it easier to curb her rage and let things go, life has a way of throwing the arseholes (and sex offenders) into her path. Raf’s family are Mexican American, and this is Trump’s America, so there is also no shortage of danger to them and Rhiannon’s temper.

Her sister-in-law’s husband was a big old red flag in the last book, and it did feel unlikely he’d survive book four! Some of this plot did feel reminiscent of Marni and Tim in book two, but then, domestic abusers are everywhere.

Perhaps this is weird, because this is a book about a serial killer, but I actually found it to be the most romantic thing I’ve read in quite a while! Rafael is such a wonderful, healthy and supportive partner, and they’re genuinely comfortable with each other. It did get a little saccharine for me, at times, because Rhiannon does a lot of reflecting on how she loves him and how wonderful their relationship is … So you know something is going to go wrong … But on the other hand, it reminds me of my relationship with my husband. He is the only person in the world who has ever made me feel comfortable and completely relaxed. I understand how Rhiannon feels about Raf!

Of course, Rafael doesn’t know her real name and the true extent of her past, so the threat of his finding out and reaction looms. He had an Irish friend who vists (who could have been in the UK at the time she was all over the news), Detective Jericho from book 2 is also sniffing around, and of course, Rhiannon herself is always her own worst enemy! C. J. Skuse again did a good job of winding a twisty road to the inevitable destination! I felt like I was kept on my toes and was never sure what any of them might do next.

A minor bit of criticism, and the half-star deduction, is that I don’t have a really clear picture of who Rafael is by the end of the book. His character feels contradictory. In the last couple of chapters, he was giving me whiplash over his motivations!

I believe book five is the final one in the series, and that feels right for Rhiannon’s arc. We’re set up to go back home to the UK to help baby Ivy, and while I have absolutely no idea how this series will end, or even how I think it should end, I know it’ll be another wild adventure.