Not my favorite in the series, but still enjoyable! We had a triple-POV with a romance developing between three men all while focused on a fairly intense plot. If anything, I felt the subject matter meant it needed more space to grow and breathe more organically than it did, but it was good nonetheless.



Knowing what I know now about this book, would I still read it if I went back in time?
Yes.


 See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book



CHARACTERS: One of the hardest parts to overcome in this book is that our main characters here: Lee, Jones, and Ginger, really weren't developed enough as more than side characters in the previous books and that shows here. They aren't quite as dynamic, quite as different and complex. In many ways I felt Jones was a watered-down version of Bill, for example. They didn't have enough space or time to get a chance to truly shine as characters. Are they likeable enough? Definitely. However in many ways there wasn't much to them, even down to how they were in the bedroom when they finally got together.



PLOT: Lee, Jones, and Ginger need to team up to take down a human trafficking ring, realizing they have more skin in the game than first realized, when someone close to one of them is taken. In some ways, this plot is the most 'quest-like' of all the books, with lots of traveling in a high-tech van and motel stays, for example. The subject matter (re: human trafficking) has the potential to be incredibly dark material, but Davidson kept a good balance with this one that really fits the tone and intensity of the series as a whole. I did appreciate that! And I absolutely was thoroughly invested in them succeeding, moreso than watching them figure out how they wanted to all three end up being together as partners.





EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.

3:5/medium. The subject matter has the potential to go pretty deep and dark, so automatically it's higher than a beach read, while at the same time, the balance is kept so it isn't overwhelming.



CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled? 


75%. Again, I wasn't super invested in the characters themselves and having them get together. I also felt that some of what happened in the climactic events I expected would happen and then it was all over far too quickly, so I didn't get that side of the fulfillment. But they did succeed and that's the important part of the plot in this one!