I have so much love for this book and series. I have been waiting for this book since the moment I finished The Thrill of It. And the wait was worth it. 

Trey and Harley are back in the ugly beautiful they found and worked for in The Thrill of It, and even though they found that beautiful, life goes on, and new challenges arise. Both characters are faced with specters of their pasts, the pasts they thought they had left behind. 

The good parts of their life are full of sweet. Those everyday type moments of connection and chemistry are all over this story. Both Harley and Trey had difficult journey’s they’ve traveled to get to this point, so seeing their quiet moments (or at least private, if not quiet) reinforces the confidence they have in each other. 

Each time something comes up, Trey and Harley have to work to maintain the progress they’ve made in battling their addictions and moving past the hurt and ugliness they have climbed through. From the secret Harley learns at in Thrill of It, to one of Harley’s former clients, to a blast from Trey’s past they each have their individual challenges to overcome as well as those they face as a couple. But I loved that even in the face of challenges and surprises, Harley and Trey remembered to turn to each other for support rather than run away. Yes, there were a couple points where each character tries to avoid an issue, or revert to their addict patterns, but ultimately they turn to each other for support and help. I never found myself frustrated with the characters here either. Their personalities, actions, and reactions are so true to the characters that nothing they did struck me as off or forced. This whole story flowed effortlessly (at least on the part of the plot -- the characters had plenty of struggles). 

I felt like Trey especially had a lot to overcome in this book. His fears really drive a lot of his reactions for much of the book. His low points had me aching along with him. Maybe even more than he was, since part of his m.o. was to shut down and avoid and as an observer, I couldn’t do that. I don’t think I felt fear and pain from Harley quite the same way. Maybe because she had already moved past a lot of the hard events from the first book and when she faced her struggles in this book she faced them head on, proactively, with a strength we hadn’t seen from her before.

There was so much going on throughout this book, it almost felt like a several novellas grouped together. Between the family tension and secrets, and outside threats, there was something new coming up for the couple as soon as they resolved one problem, another popped up to take their attention. There were appearances by Cam, Kelsey and Jordan again in supporting roles, as well as both’s parents, but this really was truly Harley and Trey’s journey and the focus stayed on them. From the moment I started reading I didn’t want to put this down. (And even before I started reading it took a lot of effort not to read it before I had the time to give it.) 

Thanks to Lauren Blakely for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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Kim's 5 star review