I hadn’t planned on reading Axel’s story, at least not this quickly. I figured I knew enough from the Sinclair and Winters saga. They touched on what happened with Emma and Axel so I never felt the need or rush to read his story. I was even considering skipping it altogether because I knew what happened. To me, this wouldn’t have been worth it to read if the whole book wasn’t a surprise to me. It kind of ruins the whole story. In some cases, it did when I picked this up. However, when I started this series I didn’t expect to be put right back into the world of the Winters and Sinclair’s. I thought Axel would be a side character in this series, little did I know this would shape the Sinclair, Winters and Sawyer’s Bend series which is on my list but down the line. This set the stage for an ongoing fight between the Russian mob, family secrets and discovering more things about the families. I think this is, full circle one of the only other series I’ve read that had so many different spinoffs from it, aside from the Dufort Dynasty, Alpha series, Winslows and Boston Billionaires. Anyway, this was a crazy ride. This book was the best out of the three and it’s because most of the action happened in this one. You get betrayal, danger, passion, love and rediscovering the meaning of trust. My only complaints about this book is that it started off in the midst of Axel’s investigation and in seducing Emma instead of starting from the beginning from the moment her case landed on Axel’s desk. I would have wanted to read about this and his strategies, plus his first thoughts upon meeting her and setting the stage for a long investigation and dangerous situation. It covers how Emma got caught up in it, but not Axel. Emma had straight up background, how she wound up investigating for the FBI, essentially what led to her looking guilty in Axel’s eyes since she started off as just a job for him. It didn’t showcase the how and why for Axel. On top of that, I did feel like this book did drag out a bit and it got monotonous after a while. If it wasn’t for all that stuff, I may have given this a 5. I just felt bored somewhere between the middle and at the end of the book. There was a lot of waiting it out and chapters where nothing happened, just Emma and her thoughts or Axel and his thoughts. It felt a little standstill at this time. However, what warranted a high 4 rating was what I mentioned earlier. The action, uncertainty, danger, passion, need and emotion that was felt throughout the book. I did feel like I was a part of the action, watching all of this play out. I was in on secrets, what was going on and Axel’s plans. It was a good book that for me, closes out the Sinclair’s and Winters storylines even though by order, this is where it begins. I look forward to eventually learning about Griffen, his family and the little town he’s from, stepping away from the Russian mob, Sinclair’s and Winters.