Review: Great book! :D
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2013
4.5 - 5 starsThis was a great story! There was so much going on and the characters are awesome! It's a great addition to the series.Rocky is a cool character and I liked her. She has some issues from the past that she never really got past though. Unfortunately her family is more in to enabling through denial that helping her so her life isn't as good as it should have been. Mostly this stems from the break with Layne 18 years before. She loves Layne, she never stopped and when she broke up with him, the decision wasn't made with a clear head. That messed up head kept her away from Layne until he gets shot, then her head clears enough to go to him.Layne is a good man. He's a bit of an jerk to Rocky when she first makes contact after he was shot. Of course he also thinks she's still with her husband when they're actually separated and heading for a divorce so his mess up in his initial reaction is kind of understandable. He ends up having to get deeper involved with her when she decides to "help" him and her brother Merry (another cop) investigate a dirty cop that was probably responsible for Layne getting shot. In order to save her from getting herself in trouble, he has to divert her to a different path, one which ends up bringing them close again. This is good because once Layne realizes that Rocky still has feelings for him he decides to get her back and I was so rooting him on!The relationship between Layne and Rocky was a really good part of the story. I enjoyed seeing them reunite and start to relearn each other. Rocky has spirit and stands up to Layne to a point but she also knows when to listen and not be obstinate just for the sake of being obstinate. Layne can be bossy but isn't a jerk and usually has a reason for what he does. They blend well together and you can see how they should have been together the whole time. The continuing love on both sides was evident.There were a number of things going on at once during the story. In addition to Rocky and Layne's reunion there's also a couple cases going on involving dirty cops and a suspicious youth minister in the church. Layne investigates them while trying to keep Rocky from getting herself in trouble trying to go things alone (she can be a bit impetuous).Layne's son's Tripp and Jas are both great. Jas has an attitude at first but it's actually really cool because when we come in to the story, Layne is still trying to reconnect with his sons (mostly Jas) after working out of state for years and rarely seeing them. He moved back but things haven't been easy. During the story, both boys end up helping their father with a few things for some of the cases (nothing too dangerous though, mostly keeping their eyes open and asking other high school student some questions). This helps Layne and his boys connect and it's a really great part of the story line. Also, both boys end up meeting special girls and it's cute to see those relationships start.Characters from previous books are scattered throughout of course (which I always love to see). Layne's Mom, Vera makes an interesting addition to the story as does Layne's mentor Dev. Ryker is a new character that ends up partnering with Layne and I have to say that I liked Ryker. He's an interesting character that kept things hopping. Layne also has issues with EXs to deal with, both his EX and Rocky's soon to be EX. And there's a high school football coach making trouble too.Overall the multiple story line and items of interest going on in the story kept things interesting and I had trouble putting the book down because I just had to see what happened next. I was happy with the conclusion of the action story lines. The end take down of the bad guys just shows, Layne is the shit! Layne and Rocky's reunion was touching and seeing their relationship grow back to what it should have been, in to something beautiful sent some golden trails through me (in the book, the golden trails are the warm feeling that goes through you when something good touches your heart).This was a great book! It had interesting story lines while the relationships were touching and real and the epilogue left me with a warm satisfied feeling. There are some emotional parts though so you may want to have a tissue near. This was a great addition to the series and of course I'll be moving on to the next book. I'd recommend this book. 2 thumbs up!