Whew… that was a hard read
I’m going to start by saying that even though this is the first book of the Reed security series, it’s actually a follow up to her For The Love of a Good Woman series. This series involves so many characters and storylines from that series, that I actually stopped reading and checked multiple times to make sure I was in the first book of the series. It always felt like I was missing a bunch of information. I was able to move along without having read the others, but they are so so many characters in this book and so many storylines going on that I would definitely recommend having read the other series first. This series has been on my TBR list for quite some time, but there are sooo many books in the series that it was a little daunting so I kept putting it off. Now knowing that I should have read a previous series 1st, it feels a little more so. I kept seeing ads and recommendations for other books in the series though, so I finally bit the bullet.
This particular book is mostly about Cara and Mark/Sinner. Six years prior Cara was kidnapped and brutally tortured. She was rescued after ten days, and spent the next 3 years basically as a zombie in her brothers home. Following that she moved out, and basically became a recluse. Everyone, including her brother, treats her as though she’s broken. They actually say pretty crappy things about her. I’m sad that she had no one in her corner holding her up, until she met Sinner. He saw through it all, and came to her rescue multiple times while she attempted to try to beat her anxiety and venture out into public. Sinner is a playboy, and has a reputation as a love-‘‘em and leave-‘‘em kind of guy. They ultimately decide to become friends with benefits, and him becoming her therapy body helping her push herself outside her comfort zone. Side note: not entirely comfortable with the fact that a manwh0re never once uses protection during sex. Seems pretty irresponsible.
There’s a ton of drama in this story. Cara’s brother absolutely does not want her around Sinner, and is friends with his boss, so he gets Sinner fired. Her brother also treats her like crap, and embarrassed her publicly by throwing her breakdowns in her face. Her bffs decide that she was fine to be their nanny and take care of their four young children for years while she was struggling with her PTSD and anxiety and basically a recluse, but the second she decides to start taking anxiety medicine to help herself, she’s a “danger to their children”. 🙄🙄 After Sinner calls Cara’s brother out for his behavior toward her, she breaks up with him for taking away her control. She was pretty awful and hurtful about it. His response was to move to California for a new job, where he moves in with Cara’s brothers ex, who he also hooked up with before. Literally minutes after walking in the apartment, he has six with her. Two weeks after breaking up with Cara, who he supposedly loves, he’s back to his playboy ways at the first chance. But it’s all OK because he couldn’t perform well and didn’t get his finish 🙄 When Cara flies out to apologize, the sleazy girl has the gall to throw all the details in her face, saying it was “the worst sex she’s ever had”. Frankly, all of that should have been left out. Vira is awful. Cue more drama, and more Sinner pushing Cara away after he is injured.
There’s a bunch of other storylines going on which will apparently be woven throughout the following books. I, not entirely sure that I will continue. There was a LOT going on, and I really disliked so many people. Frankly, I’m not sure I want to know their story or watch them be crappy to people they supposedly care about. And without having read the other series, I always feel like I’m missing something. I surely won’t go back to read about Vira- she’s awful. Any story with her is a hard no. So mixed reviews on this one. YMMV.