Paternity Case

RE-READ 8/2/21 – 8/4/21Well that was ... intense. Thoughts? I changed my rating to 5 because who am I trying to impress with 4.5? I freakin' love this series and trying to parse out ratings for individual books is a fruitless endeavor for me. Others may be able to do it can't. THE STORY: I think in Bk.3 is where the author has really committed to fleshing out these characters and their story and the luggage comes in trunks. This book is just a peek, takes place in a few scant days which leave the reader and the MC wrung inside out. As I said in my original read/review Somers is the character who goes through the most, at least emotionally. His relationship with his parents, with Cora, with his daughter Evie, his past that's inexorably tangled to Hazard, his feelings towards Hazard, the impossibility of them, their unrequitedness. It's a lot. And it's done brilliantly. In the meantime Hazard continues to stumble along, trying to forge a life, one where John-Henry Somerset is only his work partner. He chooses that over no Somers at all. The first read is always the rush to what's next, who did it, but know I was able linger on details and luxuriate in them. I loved it. Even when the blows connected, and they did, I was ready for more.If you do audio [a:Tristan James 14756687 Tristan James https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] will treat you right. ****FIRTST READ 11/19/19 – 11/21/19****Another couple of intense days for Wahredua's most dysfunctional buddy cops. An ill-advised Holiday dinner with their SOs is mercifully cut short by a summons to Somers's childhood home. Once there things go predictably south culminating with Somers' father being shot, which is the least of what happens, externally or internally. And that's the beauty of this series and why I'm continuing full steam ahead.It was evident from the first sentence of the first book in this series that [a:Gregory Ashe 1179529 Gregory Ashe https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561907752p2/1179529.jpg] had a clear vision of where he was going, both in the overarching ‘mystery' of the series, and in the evolving, lifetime in the making, relationship between Hazard & Somers. Brilliant.Like in the previous books the ‘action', if you will, takes place in compressed time, from Friday, December 22nd @ 6:47 to December 25th @ 11:58 with a sort of coda on December 31st. In that time Somers, who to my mind is the character that's most grown & evolved, has yet more rugs pulled out from under him, he's forced to confront past fears, and misdeeds yet he manages to remain standing or at least get back on his feet. Sure, we wobbles but it's better to bend than break. In the meantime Hazard continues to confront Wahredua's elite. They're an ugly bunch and, sadly, not unfamiliar. The relationship between Hazard & Somers continues in the push & pull but to my mind it has progressed as much as it realistically can, considering their history, the short time that has elapsed since Hazard's return, and the fact that they're both in relationships or something close to that. I'm deeply satisfied. Those looking for a quick fix, insta anything, cookie cutter HEA, or even just regular romance, this is probably not the series for you. Also you should definitely start at the beginning. For my fellow travelers in this saga can we pool our money together to buy Nico a clue? Seriously. The boy has issues. Lots of them.