Evan and Finn, what a pairing. This was the first book I've read not just from this series, but from this author as well and I have to say, I was impressed in a lot of ways.
Evan, the big, gruff cop with a bit of trauma to make accepting an open love with Finn difficult. Finn, the sassy, devil-may-care young man with a lot of loneliness to make accepting that he's worty of love difficult. Together they have a tough road that's filled with a deep need to accept themselves first.
I was on board for every bit that they were progressing. There were quite a few secrets that bit them in the bums and I can't say I was totally convinced that they were necessary. I can definitely see why they may have kept certain secrets, but some just felt like they belonged to someone else.
For instance, Evan. His arrangement before Finn wasn't untoward, that it was out of guilt was a little bit of a surprise but also not altogether untoward. But why Evan skirted around it, didn't say what needed to be said, and ended up doing what he did made no real sense for the person we were introduced to and got to know up to the point where that blew up in his face.
And Finn, I can see where a breach of privacy was absolutely out of order, but his reaction, his determination to stay mad and punish Evan the way he did felt so wrong. It didn't do anything to push their romance into a place it needed to be, nor did it really enlighten Evan because he already could tell how much he was in the wrong. It felt so uncomfortable for me to read that scene because it was vindictive, humiliating, hurtful, and a betrayal that was so unnecessary. I nearly put the book down to finish it later because I had such a hard time stomaching that part.
Evan's hints about a previous love was a bit confusing...was it love? Was it heartbreak? Was it pivotal? Was it blended up in the PTSD, homecoming, loss, and grief that followed with his military brothers? Those things felt unanswered. And adding in Evan's struggle with PTSD and his shocking confession to Finn after a big scene in his patrol car kind of came out of the blue and wasn't really something we were leading up to nor was it really revisited either. These things really brought me out of the story.
The reconciliation and ending were quite nice though and I appreciated how they came back together, the things they said to one another fit them both and went a long way to soothe my own ruffled feathers over some previous bits in the story.
Overall I liked it but I'm really not sure if I'll keep going with this series. I'll definitely be back for more from this author, but the other characters we've gotten to know through this book aren't ones that I find myself interested in at all. That being said, when this book got it right, it was really awesome. From the feels to the spice, this book really shone in those moments and they were what kept me reading.
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