Review: Well written series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 3, 2013
I don't quite know what to say about this series.  I can tell you that I have rarely been as emotionally invested in a series as I was in this one.  I think I went into it expecting some kind of BDSM style romance, and soon found that was not what these were.To be honest, the first book, Consequences, pissed me off.  I hated Tony for being a total ass.  I also didn't like Claire for being a total doormat.  I could not understand why she did not reach out for help.  She had plenty of opportunities.  I spoke to my wife about it and she explained the whole psychology of battered women and how they very often will defend the very one who is battering them.I read the second book, Truth, mostly because I had to see where the story went next.  I thought about not reading it, but then I would have always wondered what happened next.  I'm glad I did.  It helped me to better understanding where Tony's head was and how he could have done the things to her in the first book.  It did not excuse them, but it did help explain them a bit more.  By the end of that book I found myself starting to sympathize with him more than I ever expected to.  I also found that Claire finally showed some real backbone and strength that I worried I would never see in her.And then there is the final book, Convicted.  In my opinion, the first and second books were not romances, however, I would have to say that this third book does qualify as a romance.  Perhaps a different kind of romance, but a romance nonetheless.  Even so don't go into it expecting hot graphic sex scenes.  The sex is mostly implied.  But the relationship between Tony and Claire really comes to a boiling point in this final book.I was shocked by the status of Claire when the book first starts off 3 years in the future.  I do not want to spoil anything, but I can tell you that it was a stunning and totally unexpected way to start this book.  Much of the book is told in flashback.  There is a HEA for them, but it does not come easily.So, I guess to boil it down, this is not the kind of romance series we normally expect to see.  It will most likely not get your hormones boiling, but if you want a well written, exciting, and suspenseful series featuring compelling characters that build believably over time, then you cannot go wrong with this series.