Jack just got back from his time in the service. It hadn’t ended as he’d planned, and he’s not overly anxious to get back into society. He starts a job at his best friend’s family company and walks in to see Ali. All grown up and ready to change his life. Now he just has to figure out how to avoid her or make his best friend, her brother, see that this could work.
I don’t know how to say this nicely, so I guess I’ll just get it out. The premise of the book is decent. The writing/editing is not.
- I’ll start off on a soapbox… Jack has been overseas and seen things. Things that are haunting him. He doesn’t get the help he needs. And Emma doesn’t really encourage him to do so. He decides protecting her will help him fix his past regrets and she’s ok with that. True love means sometimes sharing tough love. I just can’t accept mental health being ignored, even in a romance novel. Those serving our country have been through stuff… love and support can certainly help, but it’s not a substitute for your loved one getting the medical attention they need, in whatever form that is.
- The book flips randomly between 1st and 3rd person. It’s super confusing. One paragraph may be in first person and the next will be in 3rd but referencing the same individual. Obviously this is an easy fix… so I’m not sure why it wasn’t made prior to publishing.
- Emma is annoying. She has no training to be a bodyguard yet insists on jumping into the fray to solve a mystery. She puts herself in danger and subsequently, those she cares about as they try to help her.
- The big mystery to be unraveled gets sorted, but rather quickly at the end as an afterthought. I can appreciate that anyone picking the book up was hoping for a romance not a mystery, but could we at least pretend like there was more to the story?
My recommendation? Hard pass
Reading Minds 