Review: Gripping, Intense, Frustrating and Fantastically Dark
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 26, 2013
It was so good to read a longer story about Evan Arden and be able to delve more into the character we briefly got to know in "Otherwise Alone". I won't give anything away, because nothing is worse than a spoiler in a review, but I will warn other readers that this book can be frustrating, especially for those wondering what will happen with Lia."Otherwise Occupied" focuses on Evan and how he deals with PTSD and his job as a hit man for mob boss Moretti. We're also given more background on him and what has brought him to his current state, which is quite important to the overall story. The book follows Evan as he returns to his job in Chicago after his one night with Lia Antonio, the girl he met, saved and left in Arizona. While Lia's impact on Evan is not forgotten, nor left out of his narration, Savage gives the reader Evan's long-term reaction to leaving her by pairing him with another companion, Bridgett.Despite his short time spent with Lia, I was already invested in her and Evan's relationship, for lack of a better term, so reading about him with someone else was frustrating.  While Evan's interactions and relationship with Bridgett dominate the book, Savage did a fantastic job of subtly showing the reader why he kept her around and what her purpose to the story as a whole was. Bridgett's character was hard to completely hate, but not entirely possible to love either. She's a perfect example of how Savage is able to draw such strong and conflicting feelings out of her readers and that's something that, to me, makes an amazing author.  I'll leave it at that because the psychological aspects of Savage's book are what make them so good and discovering them yourself is even better. I will say that even though I was frustrated for almost the entire book, I am extremely happy with how it all came together and wouldn't have read it any other way.I cannot wait for the final book in this series and highly recommend Savage's writing to anyone who loves darker romances with amazing psychological nuances.