I didn't love this book, and I won't be continuing the series. It wasn't awful, and the writer has potential. The story line and delivery just didn't work for me.
Taylor isn't the strong female lead that I like to see in stories. She has moments when she puts her foot down and gets angry, but those moments pass quickly and almost all lead to her giving an apology for getting upset. Her reaction/anger to several situations aren't really over the top and are justified, so I don't see why she should apologize. In fact, I would have liked to have seen her stay angry and maintain some dignity. I also found her character to be immature and/or lack common sense, which is off-putting for me. Being naive is one thing, but being stupid with no real sense of self-preservation is another. I couldn't connect with her.
At several points in the book, Case says some version of the following: "I'm sorry. I don't deserve you. I promise this will never happen again. I'll keep you safe." And, yet something happens to Taylor--repeat x3 (at least). Since Taylor never calls him on his empty promises and since he never addresses that they are empty promises, I don't see why this sentiment is repeated. It doesn't contribute to character growth in any way and is, therefore, random.
I didn't care for Case either. I found his big secret predictable. I kept hoping I was wrong--that his secret revel wouldn't be what I thought--but I was right, and as a result, I was disappointed in his character. People like him have to do what they have to do, but some of what he engages in (i.e., his relationship with Rachel, amongst other things) isn't part of that life, and I have higher standards for men like him. Speaking of, I found his whole relationship with Rachel to be disturbing and trashy, and the inclusion of it and his lack of shame (at any point) made me detest his character. I also hate that sex between him and Taylor is similar to sex between him and Rachel. There's nothing that makes sex with Taylor special, and I don't like that--especially when Rachel points out to Taylor that Case is not making love to Taylor, and Case never states otherwise or corrects Rachel. What could have made that scene would have been Taylor knowing that he did make love to her and that she was special. But, no. The writer felt that we needed to know that sex with Taylor isn't special to Case.
Along those lines, I didn't care for the sex scenes. Dirty sex has its place, but I never felt any emotional connection during sex between the H/h. And plenty of writers have proven that a connection can exist in the dirtiest of sex scenes. Even as they cared about each other, it was as if they still kept sex void of feelings--and that's not for me.
The writing itself is choppy. I wish the writer would have used more contractions, especially in the dialogue. There are frequent grammar errors, but nothing too severe. The lack of contractions is what killed me the most--as far as the writing itself is concerned. For $0.99, it's fine. But, this book shows that the writer doesn't use an editor (not a good one, anyway). So I'm not likely to buy anything else of hers.
I was torn about whether I wanted to give this 1 or 2 stars. The story was kind of engaging. I finished the book. I acknowledge that some of my issues with the story are based on personal preference within this genre, but the character development and writing just aren't to standard for me. I give the plot a 2, but the writing brings it down to a 1.