Forever Marked has a great plot. I was really intrigued to know exactly what had happened to Ellora and what would happen. While somewhat predictable (you know she is on the run and will, of course be found) there were still enough surprises to keep the story unique and keep me reading. Ellora and Behr were good characters. You genuinely care about them and want them to get their HEA. The supporting characters are likable as well. However, I didn't feel all of the characters were particularly dynamic. All of them were pretty flat and static. I would have liked a bit more development.
My biggest struggle with this Forever Marked was the writing. It was overly verbose at times and had me rolling my eyes frequently! For example:

Ellora sat back, enjoying the story. Behr was so funny; he changed his voice to a higher pitch when speaking as Fiona, and a very low when speaking as Fingal and Fionn. He eve used sound effects! Behr was the BEST storyteller.

I get it-he tells the story well. Did I need that entire 3 sentences to understand that? No. I would have rather had it incorporated into the actual story. This book did a lot more 'telling' and not showing the reading. Here is another example:

Aaaaaaaah!!!!!! Ella screeched out as Behr relentlessly ticked her ribs. Tickling. Worst torture ever!

Another issue I had was the overuse of exclamation points. Seriously, they were at the end of every other sentence. I found it to be distracting overall from the actual story. That is not something I want while reading!

Finally, since the book takes place in Scotland, most of the characters have Scottish accents. It got a bit difficult to read at times. I found this really seemed to slow down my reading. Again, that is not something I want when reading!

So, why 3.5 stars for Forever Marked? The plot really was good! Maybe you won't be as put off by the language issues I mentioned! Even with my irritation over those few things, the plot held my attention enough to want to keep reading!

POV: 3rd person (not my favorite and might be another reason I struggled)
Cliffhanger: sort of (you are given a bit to whet your appetite for book 2)
Trope: Damsel in Distress
Tears: No ( )