Review: In The End.. The Truth Prevails
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 12, 2013
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*This novella has to be read after Moving Forward, book one in the series, however it is not needed to read book two beforehand. At only 65 pages this is a short account of Jake's story and the events that took place previous to book one that his wife Jesika soon discovered. Now I wasn't a fan of Jake during Moving Forward and unfortunately my opinion hasn't changed. Although I did get a recount of his tale and discovered his thoughts and feelings and the reasons behind his actions I didn't sympathise with him. Of course I didn't wish his untimely end but I did wish he made better decisions.The story begins from the moment Jake met Jesika and decided he needed to make her his own. From the outset we find Jake to be determined and will cross anyone that steps in his way, even his family as his cousin, Holden, finds out the hard way. There are some time jumps as the big events in his relationship with Jesika are visited. It is clear to see that Jake did love Jesika dearly, unfortunately Jake was very insecure, even though he portrayed a tough MMA fighter he wasn't confident with giving and receiving love as this was something he lacked growing up. I believe this to be the reason he was so possessive over Jesika and he feared she would leave him eventually as he never felt good enough.Jake keeps his promise to Jesika and he vows to leave the fighting world behind after one last fight, little did he know his actions afterwards would signify the beginning of the end. Now here is where my problem with Jake lies and in his letter to Jesika he admits it himself. Yes he made a huge mistake but if he came clean and told Jesika, he may have had a fighting chance with her but instead he lied and buried that lie for years, even going to extreme lengths to hide it. So even though he showed remorse every day for his actions, I wish he had the courage to tell Jesika as she deserved to know. And I will always wonder if he would have came clean on his own but alas we never got the chance to find out.I did like the note aspect of the story and I think the images of note paper was really good, it added authenticity to Jake's plea. I was perhaps expecting another revelation from Jake, as we knew most of the details uncovered in this short book so all we learned was his feelings behind it and the night of the event itself but the consequences remained the same.Erika Ashby's writing is easy to get lost in, a lot of time was covered in 65 pages and it was done well. Even though I felt In The End wasn't imperative to the story line for me, I would recommend fans of the series to read it if they want to gain a better understanding of Jake and the events that surrounded his life. ~Ava