Tace has been a favorite of mine since the beginning of this series. (Once again, there will be no spoilers for this book but there will be spoilers from previous books. Read no further if you haven’t read the previous books yet.) Watching his transformation and his internal fight for his humanity has kept me riveted to the character. I hadn’t warmed up to Sammi as much, mostly because I hate the “big secret” thing. Of course, in this series everyone has their secrets. I just had a feeling Sammi’s were going to be huge. And they were, in many ways. As you can tell by the blurb of this book, it seems as though Sammi’s secrets may even be unforgivable.

As much as I love the pairing of Tace and Sammi, I had a hard time going all in while Sammi was still holding some very significant information back from the Vanguard team. It was strange. I could see that the couple had chemistry, but I couldn’t feel it. You may think I’m trying to say there was telling and not showing, but that wasn’t it exactly. It may very well be that I was holding myself back from being invested in them until the cards were all on the table.

One of the things I adore about this author’s Dark Protectors series is the humor that goes along with the action and suspense. This series isn’t set up to have that same level of humor, it would be out of place. She’s been able to sprinkle in a different sort of humor throughout though, and a bit more with this book. Tace is the perfect character to bring levity to the world they all now live in and the author uses that masterfully here.

More than the love stories in each of these books, the comradery amongst the Vanguard team is getting more and more cohesive and enjoyable to read. A band of brothers and sisters, so to speak, who become more and more like family the more they go through together. Seeing the family expand and learn and adapt together is amazing.

It’s not all roses for this group. Not only have they taken some hard losses, they also have plenty of enemies…even within their own community. You thought the Pure would go away after what happened in the last book? There are always more crazy people to take up the mantle when there is perceived power and adoration to be had. The beliefs and talking points from the so-called leaders of this group often hit too close to home in the time of my current read in 2022.

There are some possible new allies or enemies and a nice surprise or two to be found in this story. Even with being upset with Sammi and the stubborn nature of Tace, this had the HFN I needed for these two and so much more.

You can find more of my reviews at All In Good Time.