***2.5 Stars***
Unfortunately, this was a book that never lived up to its potential based on the characters we met in the previous book and on what the blurb has to offer.
Both of these MC's, but especially Dane, ended up being entirely too frustrating. Dane's hot/cold and push/pull drove me nuts. Same with Jax in the beginning. And these two only talked right before sex, during sex, or immediately after sex. Otherwise, if even a minute passed, it was Shutdown City, population 2.
And I'd like to know why Dane's issues aren't seriously addressed here? He obviously needs professional help to deal with his low self-esteem issues. He's causing harm to himself and blacking out when emotions become too much...that's not something that an "I love you" and "You're good enough" can solve.
Also, while I don't have strong feelings one way or another about kids in books, I do like it when there's a reason they're there. Here, Emma was nothing more than a prop who spends most of her time in a car seat being carted around. It was really weird.
The "suspense" element was a throwaway joke.
And of course you have your common novella trait of the author putting their foot on the gas pedal at the end. Quick and easy resolution.
Also, the introduction of one of the main characters in the next book is super awkward and so forced. He comes out of left field with random background on him thrown in. Just like Emma, the car seat baby....it was weird. I would have rather he been left out and newly introduced in his own book.
You can definitely tell this is one of Sloane Kennedy's earlier books. That addictive writing quality is there, but the story crafting and development still leaves a lot to be desired.