I already know that I'm going to come across as a bit of a jerk in this review, and I've accepted that. I remember Amber from the previous story, with her addiction and her preference for abusive men and bringing her daughter into those situations. It was better getting things from her point of view because it did make her more sympathetic as the reader sees firsthand her struggle. My issues with her are my own, so I don't expect someone else to feel the same. I didn't like being inside her head. It was such a mess with the abusive ex-boyfriend, the previous addiction, the low self-esteem, and the struggle to just exist. I felt for her, I really did. I just didn't enjoy being in the midst of it. I keep remembering her desperation to hang on to Luke even after he was so horrible from the last novel, and it makes me sad. I'm glad she got her happy ending. I just didn't enjoy being part of the journey getting her there.

This was a fun YA read.

I had trouble getting into this one at first and very early in the book, I contemplated a DNF. The religious presence and oppression was very heavy handed in the abuse. Once I made it through Gabriel's youth, thoughts of quitting were no longer a thing. The author did a fantastic job of world building. This was like a cross between 30 Days of Night and The Witcher. I love the snark provided by Gabriel when you least expect it. There is a diverse cast of characters who are fully fleshed out. I may wait a bit because I have other books I need to finish, but I will definitely be continuing the series.

I know I read these out of order, but it does not make a difference stpeywise. I wasn't a fan of this one. It was too short for the story to feel like it had any believable depth without including installed.

This is the second book I've read in this series and the first for me by this author. I started with book 4 as Wells was the one that brought me to this series. A series written by different authors is always a mixed bag, with some being better than others. Unfortunately, since I skipped around, this book was too similar to the other as a marriage in crisis and it didn't land as well for me. It seemed a little too easy and a tad predictable. The FMC rolled over fairly easy, which was disappointing. There were times I almost felt I was in a shifter romance with references to the MMCs "beast" and how it had its own separate emotions and responses. It was just a bit weird in a mafia adjacent novel. It felt like too many genres combined in this novel.

I feel like the story the author wanted to tell was just too big for the word count it was allowed. It made everything feel very superficial since there didn't feel to be any depth to their relationship, their circumstance, and their emotions.