Review: This book had me hooked!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 30, 2014
I knew just from reading the summary that this book was not just up my alley, but parked in the driveway in front of my house honking the horn for me to hurry up, and I was right.  I read until I fell asleep (sometime in the wee hours!), read during gymnastics, read during naptime, and finally got to finish.Secret agents, misunderstandings, two people who NEED each other... and danger out the wazoo.  Like, crazy danger.  Like, omg this is insane wtf just happened danger!We join the story 5 years after a tragic misunderstanding has split them up, when Nick forces his way into Anna's life again in order to protect her, whether she wants him to or not.  He's not actually happy about it either, but it is inconceivable for him to know she's in trouble and not help.  And Anna is in it up to her eyeballs without even knowing why.  Watching them work with each other and against each other, using their awareness to drive the other away or pull them closer, was spectacular.I can't say that I'm claiming Nick as a book boyfriend, but I absolutely LOVE him with Anna.  The sparks are constant, and their backstory is so well written that there's no way to imagine them moving on from each other, ever.  These two have GOT to have each other and no one else!I did have a couple of gripes during my reading, though.  A few typos that I'm not sure are actually typos but maybe just British spellings, so I'm willing to overlook those.Nick's growth - he comes to understand exactly how much he's hurt Anna in the past, and while there was a lot of talking about feelings, I was never satisfied with his admissions.  There were several opportunities for a much stronger "I almost lost her" reaction, and I really wanted Anna to just grab him by the collar and shake him until he confessed how much she's always meant to him.Anna - there's a lot of flip flopping in her mind about what she's thinking vs what she's actually feeling, and I felt like it wasn't written clearly enough.  With Nick's lies, they are verbal & intentional, but he always knows how he feels.  Anna seems to do a lot of lying to herself, almost instantly admitting that she's lying to herself, and it got annoying.My major issue (the one that actually knocked off a star) *could* be considered a spoiler, although I'm not giving away specific details.  Do consider yourself warned.***************************I was devouring this book at every possible opportunity - I constantly felt like I *could not* wait to see what happened next.  I actually sshh'ed my husband when I was at 95% because of how much was going on, then I turned the page and it was a year later.  ACTION ACTION DANGER - reminiscing.As a sports metaphor:  your team is at bat, the last possible chance to save the game, here comes the pitch, the batter swings - and it's the after party.  I honestly flipped back and forth on my kindle thinking I'd somehow skipped a chapter.There was so much build up but no payoff, and I was really disappointed by it.  Sure, you see how things are going a year later, but it was so anti-climactic that I was almost too irritated to care.If the conclusion of the story had not been completely skipped over and the last chapter more accurately labeled an Epilogue, this would have been a 5* book.