We first meet wealthy Boston socialite Greer Addison tossing back drinks in a dive bar after having caught her fiancé—with whom she had a ho-hum relationship at best—in bed with another woman (one of her friends!) a week before their wedding. Greer really worked for me as a character throughout. Diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, she’s been a lifelong useless embarrassment to her wanker of a banker father who saw her engagement to the heir apparent of New England’s biggest real estate mogul as her only achievement. She’s spent her life being a good girl to try to earn her father’s approval, so the way she decided to assert herself and finally rebel by taking a walk on the wild side felt genuine and relatable—had my upbringing resembled Greer’s, I can absolutely see myself doing the same thing. Greer’s night of rebellion sees her having mindblowing sex in the back of an SUV parked in the middle of the street with bad-boy security specialist and near-stranger Raphael (Rafe) Marcel, becoming the #1 suspect in her ex-fiancé’s murder when he’s found stabbed in her flat (more shame brought on the family!), suffering from retrograde amnesia, ending up pregnant and alone, and being harassed by a deranged stalker that forces her to go to (unwitting) baby daddy Rafe for help. No doing things half-measure for Greer! She’s a delightful mix of strength and vulnerability as she tries to deal with everything life has thrown at her whilst trying to stand on her own two feet and be the person she wants to be for the first time in her life. Having watched her mother spend a lifetime mutely standing in her abrasive husband’s shadow, Greer has sworn to never be emotionally out of control in relationships, so watching Rafe strip away her defences and make her believe in true love was incredibly heartwarming.
As with Gabe and Mal in previous novels, Rafe has the wounded-hero-who’s-sworn-never-to-love-again thing going on, along with a giant chip on his shoulder about his lower middle-class upbringing and connections to a crime family. He’s equal parts irreverent and protective alpha, and quite the tosser when Greer first informs him of his impending fatherhood—he clearly still wants her body but refuses to consider anything beyond that or embrace the pregnancy. It’s not until we learn of the deep betrayal by a girlfriend in a shockingly similar situation several years ago that he becomes a sympathetic character and goes from seemingly heartless wanker to vulnerable man afraid to believe what he wants most in the world is truly within his reach. His journey of learning to let go of all the hurt and just trust is incredibly poignant. Aside from the scorching opening one-night stand, Greer and Rafe’s relationship is a fairly slow build, which makes it believable given the boatload of emotional issues both bring to the table and makes the HEA that much more satisfying. The relatively slow-building romance also provides the perfect counterbalance to the fast-moving, adrenaline-packed suspense plot that will keep you guessing (and second-guessing) until the big reveal.
In addition to a great hero and heroine, Ms. Simone again delivers a fantastic cast of secondary characters. Greer’s parents are deliciously vile without edging over into implausible and will leave no one indifferent. The bond between Mal, Gabe, Rafe, and Chay is reaffirmed and deepened further, and the setting—the gorgeous, vibrant city of Boston (which is near and dear to my heart)—truly comes to life through the writing, which is again superb and mixes in some great one-liners that lighten the overwhelming tension and emotion (case in point: Rafe’s “You being pregnant is somewhere between a Beatles reunion tour and Mariah Carey winning an Oscar for Glitter” response to Greer’s unexpected announcement after four months of post-one-night-stand radio silence). If you like your romantic suspense heavy on the emotion and with a touch of darkness, definitely give this series a try! I can’t wait for the final entry, CHAYOT, and Chay’s story!
**ARC provided by Publisher**
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Thank you so much for the awesome review! I LOVE Ramblings From This Chick, and have been a guest a couple of times. This is my first review from RFTC, and I am ecstatic and honored by your words. Again, thank you! You've made my Tuesday morning WONDERFUL!
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