I've read my fair share of alpha males, but Max may have taken the cake. Talk about an absolutely shattered childhood. His moods and actions are beyond justifiable, yet completely unhealthy. I'm glad he finds such a brave girl in Cat to attempt to become better.

He's escaping an abusive past, while she's on the run from a murderous husband, and a shadowed history of her own. Both of their walls are built impossibly high, and the more time they spent together, the more you're just waiting for the powder to ignite and the explosion to occur. When it does, it's powerful, and almost destroys everything in its wake. Almost.

Cat was awesome. She's spirited, spiteful, ballsy, and aggressive. Every time you thought Max intimidated her or thought he put her in her place, she'd basically say, "oh yeah?" and (pardon my language) just not give a shit and make life work for her. After the hand she's been dealt, she knows how to survive and make people (even Max) work for her benefit.

I wondered if either Max or Cat could be swayed from their lots in life, but the more encounters they had, the more their lives snowballed into one, and that was exciting to see, even if you know some sort of mess is coming.

More than the story, I enjoyed the writing as well. That's refreshing. A lot of stories nowadays seem to tell a good tale and entertain you enough, but don't always have the greatest way with words, so I'm glad I got that experience as well with this book, and its first installment, The Professional.