Review: A Must Read After Finishing RED FLAGS but I Had Some Issues With It
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2013
This review was originally posted on Book Reader Chronicles.I read this book immediately after finishing the first one, RED FLAGS, and I had the opposite reaction to it than I did the first one. Where with RED FLAGS I was unsure about the book until the ending - which shed light on the reasons behind Jason's behavior - I really liked this book until we got towards the end. We left off in RED FLAGS where Jason's dirty laundry is aired out by his brother, Jacob, and his ex-girlfriend, Stacey, while they were in Texas. And this dirty laundry was pretty twisted. Cara returned home to try and pick up the pieces of her life.This book picks up pretty much where we left off - Cara and Chelsea moved into a new condo, Cara is still trying to wrap her head around everything that is happening, and Cara is about to start a new job. I really liked the new Cara in this one. While I didn't mind Cara in the first book, I actually grew to like Cara a lot because she grew a backbone and stood up for herself to everyone in her life. I also loved how honest she was to herself about her feelings, especially towards the men in her life. She was never wishy-washy and always knew who she wanted."I had spent too much time worrying about the feelings and opinions of everyone around me, and for once, I just wanted to make my own decision based on my own conscience."I also grew to really like Jason in this one. He really wasn't "in" the book until towards the middle of the book. Cara did a great job of distancing herself from him for obvious and realistic reasons. The changes he made, or rather the steps towards changing, were drastic and done from a place of necessity if he ever wanted Cara back in his life. I love that he took these steps without Cara asking or knowing - he did it on his own and for himself. After finding that out, I found myself thawing towards him and forgiving him for his past behaviors."Look, Cara. I have a whole host of s*** to sort through, and a lot of my mistakes have been a long time coming. But I'm working on them -- I'm working on me -- and I need you, I need you to help me be the man I know I can be."As much as I really enjoyed the development and evolution of Cara and Jason, both separately and together, there were things about this story that bothered me. I had a certain opinion of each of the characters based on everything that Cara was thinking (since we are in Cara's head), but by the end of the book my opinions flip flopped. It made me believe that Cara is delusional and naive when it comes to reading people.Take Chase for example. I really didn't mind him. Yes he had feelings for Cara, but he never did anything that was too much. I never understood why Cara's brother and Mila hated him, but since Cara loved him as a friend, I did too. But THEN I found out why Ryan and Mila hated Chase...and I hated Chase. How come there was never any clue about what happened between the two of them other than a line here or there about something in their past. I would have never known how horrible he was to her and when I found out I saw him in a whole new light. This is similar to how I felt about Mila in Red Flags - although I totally understand why the author did it that way. Because of this, I wasn't able to trust the characters or form any attachments to them.I really didn't understand the need to have every male that came into contact with Cara be drop-dead gorgeous, thereby piquing my reading radar to wonder if he was going to be a potential love interest for her - Jason, Chase, Damian, William. In addition to that, I saw no point in adding Damian into the mix. Yes, he was gorgeous and yes Cara was attracted to him, but his role in this book needed to be expanded on more. I felt like the reasons he was injecting himself into Cara's life was a bit confusing and never really cleared up.And my final issue was with the confrontation with Stacey. I have a feeling I may be in the minority of this one, but I thought Cara was way too harsh. Did Stacey deserve it? Absolutely. But I thought Cara was a better person then that. It made me look at Cara in another light and I can't say it was a positive one. I really grew to like Cara despite everything, but I felt like she took it too far.If you've read RED FLAGS, you absolutely want to read this one. In fact, I must point out that the titles of these books were pretty spot on for what each book was about. I actually never thought a title fit more than with these two books. The plot and storyline were really great, it was just the characters that I had a problem with.*I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*