Review: Great continuation of Bastian & Raine's story :D
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2014
4.5-5 starsOMG! I love the way this story turned out. Bastian is the same lovable but messed up hero and his main focus is Raine, who is a patient and loving woman (as any woman with Bastian would need to be).The story picks up a while after Surviving Raine leaves off. Bastian and Raine have settled in to a condo in Miami Beach. Bastina convinced Raine to give up Ohio because he's still drawn to the ocean. The problem is, since their rescue, Raine doesn't want much of anything to do with beaches or the sea so the condo was about as close as they could compromise on living accommodations. Raine has settled in with Bastian and is taking classes to get a degree in ecology. Bastian is rather aimless in his days and tries to keep from drinking again. There is a bit of a disconnect between Raine and Bastian though because although they love each other and want to stay together, there is a definite issues between them. For instance, Bastian would be happiest is it was just him and Raine and he doesn't like spending time with others. This makes it difficult for Raine (who likes people) to have her friends over as Bastian's not very good at playing nice which just makes things harder on Raine. They are working on this when Landon comes blowing back in to Bastian's life claiming that he and Franks just need one last fight in a death match from him. Bastian's not interested but isn't given much choice about competing, especially when extra collateral is used to get his compliance. Bastian has no choice and gets Raine to stand by him on this, promising her that he'll make it through and come back to her. Raine isn't happy but she realizes they don't have a choice and puts her faith in Bastian to come through the fight alive. Bastian gets prepared for the fight while trying to figure out how to keep this the last time he's called back in for real. Bastian trains for a few weeks and the tourney takes place in a frozen wasteland. The fighting is rough and vicious and things end with a twist (as I was hoping) which has Bastian coming out of things alive. He's reunited with Raine and with a bit more effort they're set to enjoy a HEA together.I loved how this story turned out. The action storyline was interesting and engaging but what I really liked best about it was how Bastian changed in the story. He realized some of his shortcomings and how he wasn't doing what he should to be what Raine needed. Realizing that, he was able and willing to make the effort he didn't before to make her happy which made him a much better hero. Raine was already a great heroine, being a lovable woman that's patient enough to deal with Bastian, and she didn't change in this book (thank goodness). My only sadness if that there will be no more of their story but this was a great ending to leave things on. I'd recommend this book (but only if you've read book #1 Surviving Raine). 2 thumbs up. :D******Spoiler alert*****Just an FYI...No Shay Savage heroes were killed in the making of this book. :D