I actually liked this one better than the first. It still had the same mistakes [spelling, grammar, forced dialogue] but the plot was pretty good. I am unsure if the author is new to writing but I assuming they are with the style of writing and the flow of the story. I have nothing against new writers, I myself am trying to write. But reading this has me wondering how often this author reads other books.

For me, reading books allows me to learn different styles so I can decide how I want to write my stories but also teaches me a new vocabulary. This series appears to be the author's first, unless they have others under a different name. It isn't bad but it is clear the author is new. I support new writers and I am looking forward to seeing more from this author to see how they grow their writing. I hope they keep at it.

I am seeing a pattern with the characters though.

The characters always have a rough past that includes abuse of some kind, whether physical or emotional, and manage to get over it with their mates. From the little we get from River and Kerian [the men of the next book] and Ava [the leading lady], the pattern will continue.

Now for the characters [don't want to linger on the other parts as the issues remain the same from the previous book]:

First, let's start with Ryker. I like him. He's an interesting character and I enjoyed seeing his way of judging people, the way he liked Blue and River because of their personalities. Naturally, as someone who has lived for 500+ years, he has a lot of baggage, a time in his life when he was a monster but that could be said for any vampire in any other form of media, especially if they live as long or longer than Ryker. I didn't have much problem with him character-wise. He was pretty fun. Aside from some forced dialogue, he was great.

Now for Serenity. I liked her as well. Escaping an abusive relationship, she was naturally wary of guys but still fairly willing to give them a chance, not judging every man on the actions of one. I know I made a contrasting argument for Harmony in my last review but her situation was different and more severe than Serenity. Harmony had more than just one man in her life who she had to compare to. Serenity had one abusive boyfriend, a mother who blamed her daughter for a lost dream, and a father who spent more time in the bottle and obsessing over his wife to pay his child any attention. Her experiences were more condensed than Harmony's so it's more understanding how she is able to still be okay around Ryker, even after her initial wariness.

This book faced the same problem as the first with the pacing. Everything seemed to be happening very quickly due to the limited page count. I feel like it would have been better drawn out, not make it so easy to find the clues that wrapped everything up. It just makes the antagonists seem sloppy, which I suppose makes some sense considering they might not have been doing it long. But there are times when they seem so smart and then make stupid mistakes, such as being caught on camera talking to someone in a way that it was clear they were working together. In the previous book, it was not obvious who the mastermind was, especially since that person didn't even really make an appearance until near the end. In this one, they were always there, in the background, in discussions. The conflict ended quickly and easily, even the main antagonist's partner was caught easily and in such a stupid way. And I have my own questions regarding that whole thing that doesn't add up knowing the person's personality, unless there was nothing really there and they were just using the other person. It was hard to say, really and would depend on how good of an actor the character was.

Over all, it's a pretty good book and so far I am liking the series and the world it is creating. I can't want to continue the series and I hope it gets better as we go.