Not into this bs.

"Something about having a uterus and set of ovaries just made a person intrinsically more curious and infinitely more nosy."

I really think I have found a great author here!
Very well written. Filled with mystery, suspense, intensity, and plenty of adult romance.
I am very impressed! ( )

I read the first three in this series and was really disappointed. The reviews have been and continue to be good for these books, but I just couldn't get into them. ( )

I said it was readable.

It almost went and made a liar out of me.

Okay to be honest, it was readable. But it also tried really hard not to be. from calling dollar bills “George Washingtons” (no.never) to referencing Ashton Kutcher on punked, it really read like someone trying too hard to stay current and failing like your 69 year old grandfather that wasn’t even current in his day.

I didn’t love reading paragraphs about their firepower.

I also didn’t enjoy when the hero, Nate, said to the heroine, Ali, about how he wanted her (when she decided to ask if he ever laughs in the middle of the night—don’t get me started): “he wanted to plunge into her balls deep till she’s wriggling like a fish on a line.” Here’s the smelling salts cause I can tell you all just up and fainted from the swoons.

And I do appreciate dialects in books, but I didn’t get Nate’s. It was all contractions and lack of vowels. He said C’min instead of come in. I don’t get it. Or "what'r'doin" ??

The narrative style was tough to take, third person, lots of PoVs but with lots of "ugh" and weird expressions peppered in. And "Uh yeah," Not weird for us on goodreads, or even in a book in general, but from this point of view it felt off.

the couple's trajectory is non-existent and this book showcases exactly why romantic suspense hasn't been my bag. Neither the romance nor the suspense are satisfactory. Another best friend of big brother rescues and always loved little sister, luckily the feeling's mutual because they have sex then decide to get married after lusting after each other in the first 50%. Ultimately, I didn't care about them. None of them. 1.5 ( )

I read this in two days, cried at one point (and I'm not usually a crier), and was genuinely surprised by something the author had happen near the end. So to me, that all adds up to a good book.

Ultimately I dropped a star because I didn't care for the way Nate (hero) spoke, with his words 'mashed up', almost like a southern accent, except, it wasn't. It kept me from liking him entirely. I did like his internal POV, though. And I was very moved by his relationship and grief with best friend Grigg.

The author didn't pull any punches when giving us the details of torture, which I actually appreciated. The raw approach made Nate's turmoil believable.

And while I liked Frank & Becky, and look forward to reading their story in the next book, I think they got a little too much page time in this book.

I also got a little tired of the heavy focus on relationship-centred thoughts each hero & heroine had, and would have liked to see the four of them have more thoughts/reflections/observations that strayed to other areas of interest.

Looking forward to reading the next one. ( )