3.5 stars

The books by this author I had previously read were more current and I could tell the difference in her writing and some of the language used. There were some points in this story where a turn of phrase made me cringe. But I love that I was able to see the growth the author has had through the years. This isn’t a bad story or poorly written by any means.

I like the setup of the series, Logan and his brothers return home after their abusive mother kills their father and herself. They left after high school to get away from her, but now want to do something to help others who are in abusive relationships. Especially since, in their experience, there are not as many places of safety for abused men.

Logan and Grace have fantastic chemistry. They were fantastic friends in school and both held a flame for the other. They both hold hard feelings about the way their friendship ended, but once they finally talk to each other they realize there is still a spark and neither is actually to blame for the way their relationship fell apart.

Sounds normal enough, right? But Grace’s parents are bonkers. A lot is going on with them and this story does a good job (albeit over the top!) of spotlighting emotional and psychological abuse and how it can be just as terrible as physical abuse. At times it can be hard to sympathise with Grace because of how she gives her parents multiple chances to be good people. Yet that is the nature of abuse.

I’m finding this author’s romantic suspense stories to be great to listen to while cooking, cleaning, or doing other errands. They are easy to follow while being entertaining.