2.5/5
I was provided and ARC for this book. Even though I said I would not get more ARC's. In the words of famous philosopher Britney Spears: Ooops I did it again.
I was really looking forward to this one, because I really liked the first two of the series. All the characters were fun to read, and the story had a good pace. That's not what happened with this one.
Ryan is a famous lawyer, who works with his brothers Luke and Colton. Ryan, as his brothers, did not have a good childhood; his parents died in an accident, and they lived with their aunt and uncle, both abusive relatives, until Colton reached adulthood. That left a mark on the way he does relationships, which is NOT having them. Laura is a bartender, struggling with life in general, specially with her dark past, but trying to move on, looking forward to graduation and what she could do to help kids who went trhough the same as she did when she was younger. One day, they meet.
It was a a choppy story, the character Ryan is all over the place, I didn't really feel the dillema he imposed himself. Laura is, as well, a character with a lack of depth. All the bullet points are there: a dark past, a fear of relationships, unresolved trauma, all of that just superficially tackled, which did not give the ideal closure. There are lots of contradictions to the book. She starts the book trash talking the MC, saying he probably just wants something quick and easy, which she is not, and a few chapters in, agrees to do just that.
Speaking of closure, what's up with their aunt? She was the she devil the first two books and now she's a saint? A victim of circumstances? And again, in the beggining of the book, the aunt visits Ryan and tells she's dying, which he gives a rude reply, but later in the book he's caught by surprise?
And Laura's father? Can't really understand what was his role there, not why Laura still keeps him close, not why he wasn't punished, he just keeps screwing up and she easily forgives.
That's to say everything felt rushed, it should've been a bigger book to explain everything and give a chance for a well developed plot; this one was not at all what the first two books were.