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Tuesday 8 March 2016

Book Review: Twisted Mind by Mia Hoddell

Last Updated: 1 June 2021

Twisted Mind by Mia Hoddell book banner

AD* | GP2 race car driver Dustin Coates has been made irrelevant…

For the past year, Dustin helped his best friend, Raine Wilkins. It was a good diversion from his twisted life. Now she’s settling down with his brother, and without the distraction from his own toxic relationship, Dustin is rapidly spiralling out of control.

​​Everyone warned him to leave his girlfriend, Elora, yet they knew nothing about the baby…

It’s up to Dustin to protect the innocent life hanging in the balance and to do that he must endure Elora’s twisted games of manipulation and violence. However, when she does the unthinkable, Dustin finally snaps. Leaving her, the light-hearted jokester people have come to love is replaced with a grief-stricken man intent on one thing - earning a Formula One contract.

​​Everything changes when Tazia Nixon moves in next door…

Dustin clings to the Latin beauty who soothes his aching heart and helps him forget. But beneath her eternal optimism is a distressing past she refuses to share. Dustin must decide if he can risk his fragile heart a second time. She might ease his pain, but she could also break him like no one else.

​​Will Dustin be able to overlook the deceit to find his forever with Tazia, or will he see nothing more than a ​​​​Twisted Mind?


Twisted Mind by Mia Hoddell book cover

Twisted Mind is the third book I've read by Mia Hoddell (the first was her stand-alone novel Not Enough), and it's the second book in the Chequered Flag series. If you missed my review of Chameleon Soul, the first in the series, make sure you're caught up first!

After reading Chameleon Soul, which focused on the story between Formula 1 driver Teo Coates and his girlfriend Raine, I was really looking forward to reading the second book in the series. Twisted Mind moves on from the first book. Now we focus on Teo's brother, Dustin, as he comes to terms with his abusive and manipulative ex-girlfriend and unexpectedly finds new love in the form of his neighbour, Tazia, when he was least expecting it. (Isn't that the way love always turns out?)

Dustin changes

Personally, I have to admit that I preferred the first book on the whole. Somehow I felt I could relate to Raine and Teo so much more, which is surprising because I really liked Dustin as a character in the first book. It almost seemed like Chameleon Soul Dustin and Twisted Mind Dustin were two entirely different people, he changed that much. Granted, things happened to change him, but I did feel that Dustin's reaction to what happened with Elora was somewhat of an overreaction!

Now I've read a few of Mia's books, I'm struck by how similar they all are. Her plots are extremely formulaic, which means they're easy to read if predictable. They follow the standard overall plan of a romance, except one half (or both) of the couple have a big secret they're hiding, and the other person has to coax it out of them for the relationship to continue and for them to live happily ever after.

But despite all of that, Twisted Mind, like Mia's other books, is a quick, fun read. The romance is sweet, the characters quirky, and the story enjoyable. I look forward to book 3!

Rating: 3 stars

Twisted Mind is available to buy now (paid link; commission earned).

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* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 

Will you be reading Twisted Mind? Let me know in the comments below!

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