Review: favorite book of the series so far absolutely amazing
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2014
Dana does a wonderful job keeping you at the edge of your seat with this book. There’s lots of twists and turns where you least expect them and when you think you have the story figured out, she throws a curve ball your way. She has a way to make you fall in love one minute, make your heart drop the next, then make you cry when you least expect it. It definitely is a wild rollercoaster ride for sure. We’ve met Brian in Dangerous Embrace so I’m glad to finally get his story.Brian and Melissa were childhood sweethearts and had their entire lives planned out for them. Melissa was to go away to college, while Brian was to wait for her, occasionally visit her on weekends. He promised her forever. Instead, Brian committed the ultimate betrayal. He married her best friend.“Embrace every moment, for each is a gift.”Brian and Julie seemed happy, but I guess not everything is as they appear to be. Life as a detective takes a lot of commitment and dedication, but it takes a toll on your family more. Brian loved his family, there was no doubt about that, but sometimes he showed that he loved his job more. There was child pornography case in the area that he and his partner Johnny were trying to get to the bottom of. The thought of someone exposing children sickened him. Hell that crap sickens me to death. He was starting to see his family less and less, and not knowing what was going on with them. It’s like he wasn’t even a part of their lives anymore.Julie wasn’t loved by Brian anymore so she found affection elsewhere. She felt her marriage was over a long time ago. Brian constantly chose his job over his family and she wasn’t having it anymore. Brian felt his life crumbling before his very eyes when he caught his wife with another man. When he confronted her, Julie wasn’t denying it, nor was she fighting him about it. They were done. She could not physically or emotionally put any more time or energy into their marriage. This was a giant wake up call for Brian. He knew he was distant from his family a lot but he was doing a job to provide for them. How else would he provide for them? He was doing something he loved doing and he knew to do nothing else.  He loved Julie with everything and he wanted to fix it. He wanted to keep his family together. But Julie decided that walking out on her family was best for her. How was Brian to come back from this? How will their children handle this big turn of events?“I’ve learned a lot over the last year, but the most important thing I’ve learned is that life is short.” ~ MelissaBrian feels he has hit the bottom. How can he live when the one person he has loved for so long has left? How can he muster the strength to move on to be there for his children? Something is up with his daughter Erin, she doesn’t seem to want to talk to him. He senses something is wrong and that she’s hiding something, but he doesn’t know how to get to the bottom of whatever it is she is going through.“I couldn’t give all of myself to her because you have always owned that part of me.” ~ BrianMelissa has been living her life as best as she can. The betrayal Brian left her with hurt her. A part of her still loves Brian. She will always love him. She has a job she currently loves, a man who loves her and she just moved to be closer to her family. But when she gets a call from a frantic Erin wanting to talk, she has no choice but to help Brian and the kids get their spiraling life back on track.“I want him with me because it’s what he wants, no coaxing, no trapping, no strings…and no overwhelming need to mend a broken promise. ” ~ MelissaBrian is desperate to get this child pornography case shut down. Melissa has been a life saver for him and his family and he is slowly getting that connection with his children with her help. Brian and Melissa have also put the past behind them and have become friends once again. They’ve been spending so much time together that they could easily fall back to their past comfortable routine. Erin was able to confide in Melissa about her troubles and she is in bigger trouble than Melissa can handle. She encourages her to get Brian’s help but she’s afraid of what her father will do and swears her to secrecy. So in order to keep Erin talking to her and not clamming up, she must keep her secret as much as it would hurt Brian in the end.Will Erin be able to tell Brian her secret? How will he react to it? Will he react worse than she thought? Will Brian feel betrayed by Melissa that she helped keep her secret from him? Can Brian and the kids find a normal routine again? Will Brian and Johnny be able to catch the child pornography culprit? Can Brian find the balance between his family and his job? How will Brian and Melissa’s relationship be affected by them spending a lot of time together? Will they both be able to put the past completely behind them and move forward?I loved the fact that not only do we get Brian and Melissa’s story we get all the old characters from the other books back as well. Their stories continued in this book so we get more of them as well. I also loved how if Brian or one of the kids had a problem, they could count on everyone else there to help them. It’s like they’re one big extended family. I admire Melissa and her strength to put her feelings for Brian aside and help him when he hit rock bottom. She knew it would be hard to face him since she was still hurting from his betrayal, but she knew that he needed someone to help him get through that tough time and she sucked it up and was there for him every step of the way. I don’t think I would be able to do that.