I had such high hopes for this book with the way Luke and Alyssa were set up in Wicked Lovers #2. But frankly, I just didn't like Luke after awhile. I knew going into the book that he didn't think very highly of Alyssa regardless of the mutual attraction, but I was really hoping that he wouldn't be so caught up in that until the bitter end.

My feelings on this book (other than my distinct disdain for the leading man) are quite similar to the other books in the Wicked Lovers series. I think there is a great storyline here, lots of potential, but I don't particularly like how Black choose to play it out. Alyssa had the makings of a very deep, complex and powerful character (going from how she was described in the first and second books of this series) but that potential was never fully realized in her own story. And the potentially powerful tension and relationship development that could have occurred between Alyssa and Luke also seemed to fall flat. It's a shame really.

Something a little different that I've noticed is that Shayla Black writes an interesting compound story. When other authors make the story so that 1 plus 2 equal 3, Black writes more in the vain of 1+4+6+5 minus 2*9 equals 3. It's nice that the stories don't end where others might have because you can't really guess how the HEA will occur and what other bumps will be encountered along the way.

All in all, this book was just OK in my opinion. A great premise but you almost want to just give up on the story with how it actually plays out.

Is it worth the read? I would say probably not (shocker, I know) unless you are a revisionist and don't mind re-imagining the story - or if you're a fanfic writer and want to reinterpret the events (and then send me a copy, I'm sure I'd love it).