3.5 stars
It seems kind of fitting that the last book in this series would finally be the one to break my most recent book funk. I love the Powell family and this is the final book in this series. It does standalone, but is definitely intertwined with the prior books so you do get more out of it having read the others. Especially because those prior main characters are heavily featured side characters.
My heart immediately ached for Aiden (H) struggling after the events of book 4 and a major trauma. I do wish he'd sought therapy. He's a little lost in some internal darkness, despite his concerned and supportive family surrounding him. He does have a light though and that's Isla (h), one of his sister-in-law's best friends who's back in town stripping at the local club. While they're not friends per se, they're familiar with each other and something about Isla eases the tension in Aiden. He goes night after night when Isla's up on stage, never crossing personal lines due to that familiarity, until an obnoxious bachelor party gets these two a lil up close and personal. They become even more in each other's spaces when Aiden forms a plot for them to fake date to get his family off his back while also protecting Isla at a time when a serial killer is hunting strippers in the state. Isla's extra sensitive about safety because unbeknownst to Aiden at first, she's pregnant. Most of the story is relationship focused with suspense ramping up later in the book.
Written in first person, dual POV. No ow/om drama and h is the experienced one while the H is a virgin (though he has some minor experience, but none recently). The h does strip on page in several scenes and the H does have twinges of jealousy or trying not to think of other men seeing her. He's very protective, but also supportive of her choices and I felt it struck a good balance.
Aiden and Isla each have lovable personalities and definitely sparkled on page. The forced proximity and fake relationship was a great plot device for them as it allowed Aiden to show up for Isla, which she needed. It also meant that Isla was showing Aiden glimpses of a connection that he longed for and the absence of which was brought into sharp relief when he was hurt recently. As much as I liked them together though, something was off for me in the development of their relationship. The attraction made sense, chemistry was good, and their steamy scenes were hot (Isla's not afraid to give direction). I loved Aiden's reasoning for why he had never been with anyone else. I think where it faltered for me slightly was how quickly Aiden felt that Isla was the one when their connection didn't feel deeper until later in the story.
They're both uncertain about what the relationship is and considering themselves as still being fake, even after the physical intimacy starts. The emotional intimacy also leans heavily on their forced proximity, imo, and some more fleshing out would have been great. Perhaps some date nights and more background shared on Isla (we don't get much). I wasn't sure why she chose stripping but I did like that she loved dancing and wasn't ashamed of it. Their bonding over her pregnancy and Aiden claiming the baby as his was awesome too and certainly added intimacy in those scenes.
The Powell family's grown significantly since book 1 and they're alllll present in this one with nosy brothers, helpful sister-in-laws, cute kids, and a sweet matriarch. The family dynamics, even when they're sometimes smothering, are lovely and I continued to eat that up in this book. Plus, cute animal friends because this series highlights the cute animals.
One other aspect that sort of nagged at my brain was the danger. Isla's pregnant so her hormones were certainly increasing her anxiety, but until closer to the end, there's nothing that directly implies she's personally under threat. When the danger's suddenly there, I was slightly surprised. The actual flow of the scenes and how it played out was good, it was just the lead-up that had me kind of cocking my head to the side.
This author does a wonderful job with closure though and I'm so grateful. After the resolution of the suspenseful part of the story, we get several time jumps ahead leading up to their baby making an appearance and then some sweet new family time (with one last spicy scene). There's also a bonus scene available. The Powell family's not done yet either because their sister's going to be the first book in a spinoff series! Overall, I did truly enjoy this book and some of what held me back from a higher rating could also be the mood I've been in so if you've been reading this series, please certainly check out Aiden and Isla's story!