Rating ~3.75
You can be their salvation or worst nightmare.
Raven has spent almost her whole life being invisible and forgotten. But now she finds herself in the middle of a war. Except instead two sides, there are three.
The Battalion lead by the deranged Angel who wishes to destroy the world as they know it and is determined to have her no matter the cost. The Council lead by Rich, the ruthless grandfather of the man she loves, a man who determinedly believes that the ends justify the means. And the Unmemorables, lead by her estranged father, they have always remained neutral in the war but with Sam's appearance and the possibility of the curse on them being lifted life as they know it is over.
Honestly, I adore Raven. Does she make some ridiculous judgement calls sometimes? Oh, absolutely. But ultimately, Raven always tries to do the right thing.
You do what you have to, regardless of what you feel, and even while I admire that, it scares the shit out of me because that’s why you left me. I could see it in your eyes that you didn’t want to leave and you did it anyway.
Cain & Raven
There was plenty of angst with these two. Far more than in the first book, because they're forced to face the reality of who they both really are, the things they've done and may well continue to do, and what it really means to be together when their families are on opposing sides. Their respective pulling them in opposite directions for a large portion of the book.
“I’m staying with the Unmemorables.”
“You belong with me, not them.”
“They’re my family.”
“This is the second time you’ve chosen them over me. They need you to break the curse. I want you because of you, nothing more.”
---
“I gave up everything for you and you just keep showing me that you’re more like them than I ever wanted you to be.”
Honestly, the second line had me pissed off for quite a while. Because hell Cain, no one told you to do that. Raven was willing to walk away from you, she was literally out the door, pass state lines - walking away because she knew how important your family was too you and she chose herself. You ran after her! Honestly, he was channeling too much of his alpha-side for a lot of this book.
That being said, there were some sweet moments too.
Cain became her first everything—friend, companion, and lover. She’d been invisible to everyone and then along came Cain, an alpha male that liked Armani and could bake the best French toast in the world.
“What will it take for this to penetrate your brain? I love you and no matter what you do, we’re meant to be together.”
Thankfully, Raven helped Cain remember her in the end because I was very worried this book might end on a cliff-hanger and with no set release date for the third book in sight that would've been torture. Still a tad concerned about Cain and his inner alpha, but hopefully he can keep that in check.
Raven & Jackie
When I realized you remembered me, I loved you on sight. You’re the first woman to see me for who I am. Finding out you were my sister was icing on the cake. I believe in you. You know that, right?
I love their sibling relationship. They certainly mess with each other like all siblings do. But when push comes to shove they have each 0ther's back. Jackie was always on her side, even against their father and the other unmemorables. Fortunately by the end most of them, including their dear old dad Gerald, were on her side.
“Give him your hair, tell him, and if he says he doesn’t want you, we’ll kill him. Simple.”
“We can’t kill Cain,” she mumbled.
“Yeah, we fucking can,” Bones said.
No better testament to family's loyalty to you then their willingness to kill people who hurt you lol. That level of loyalty certainly made me warm up to Gerald and Bones.
Hell or high water, Cain was her man and these guys were her family. They were in this together.