Holy mother of all dirty talkers! It’s been a while since I read the first book in this series, Insomnia, so I sort of forgot that our main character Xander is the king, nay the emperor, of dirty talk. He also takes the term “alpha-male” to an all new level, but not necessarily in a good or healthy way. This book definitely had more substance than the last one, and although there was still a decent amount of build up in regards to the plot, there was less of it. I actually enjoyed that there was less build up because it consistently held your interest throughout, whereas nothing really happened in the first book until the last few pages. I’ll tell ya one thing though, the author definitely likes dirty talk and cliffhangers.
In the first book Xander definitely demonstrated his proficiency in the arts of dirty talk, but the eventual sex between him and Avery was kind of quick and unsatisfying. Well, for me anyway. They seemed plenty satisfied. But cheese and ricecakes did they go at it in this one! He alpha-maled the crap outta her, and she was pretty alpha-female (is that a thing?) herself. He would become a raging fit of jealous testosterone every time another man interacted with her, and Avery would also seethe with resentment whenever another woman attached herself to Xander’s arm. Seriously, the two might as well have just gone ahead and peed on each other to mark their freakin’ territory. It would actually probably be the best solution for them, because I personally know I wouldn’t step near a guy who smelled like piss.
We never really learned much about either character in Insomnia, just that they both had secrets. However, in this book Xander really opens up to Avery about where his nightmares stem from, and we are sort of offered a glimpse as to why he is so possessive and controlling when it comes to women. That being said, we still don’t learn much about Avery, which was extremely annoying. Here is Xander, opening up like he’s on Oprah Winfrey’s couch for crying out loud, and yet Avery remains tight lipped to the very end. Even after the two exchange “I love yous”, she doesn’t share how she ended up in foster care, or how her life was affected because of it. Out with it already woman!
There is another big reveal at the end of this book, which was definitely an OMG moment, but less climactic than the first one. Even though it’s been a while since I finished book one, I remember after reading it I was like, “Holy shit, where’s the next one!”. Now, I’d say I’m mildly intrigued to find out how all of the lies and deception between our various characters will come together in the final installment of the series. You pretty much know it’s gonna blow up in a nasty way.
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