R

1.5 stars
It had a lot of potential that it didn't live up to.
Mia, the female lead, was a disappointment, for a Hartford la student she was not that bright. I liked her at first. She was honest and determined to set think things through before acting. Sadly through the rest of the book she seemed untrue to herself, (or the image I had formed of her). I couldn't recognize her anymore.


And Marcus, the male lead, was self-destructive and his feelings for Mia appeared too quickly, and were too strong from the beginning for them to appear remotely believable.
His character wasn't fleshed out enough, he was basically orbiting around Mia, despite him having a 'dark secret life' that was supposed to be the heart of the intrigue.


The characters were inconsistent and their actions were contradictory. Marcus would be chasing Mia and somehow mid-conversation, it is now him who is dumping her, and then the next day he wants her back.
The author was going for dramatic, emotionally charged, heart-wrenching, and only succeeded in making it less believable .the logic behind the characters reaction was flawed and at times absent (justified buy drunkenness, or being impulsive and immediately regretting what they said, repeatedly )


The relationship felt like one between teenagers not a number one lawyer in Boston and a head of her class Hartford law student. Not to mention their lack of ethics. Mia despite being raised buy law enforcing family who gave their lives to their cause, doesn't think much of Marcus’ secret. I was disappointed with her reaction; she was upset over issues who were trivial in comparison with what she knew and accepted.


The supporting cast was filled with ghosts who appeared and disappeared conveniently, Jeremy is dismissed through half the book, a mother and cousin appear out of nowhere to fill the empty scene, and make the story move where the author wants it to.
Mia doesn't use her head, either her reasons for leaving him are strong and she should have stayed away, or they weren't and she shouldn't have put him through an emotional ordeal when he has been through so much already.