This was the last installment to the Blood & Roses Series, so I want to try to give an overall review of the entire story.I really enjoyed this series. I appreciated that it wasn't about this perfect guy meeting up with this perfect girl, having melodramatic and inconsequential drama, to end up together having this perfect life. Do I want a happy ending most the time? Of course I do, but I also want an ending that makes sense and doesn't seem contrived and has a bit of real life sadness to it all. I definitely got that with this series.Sloane is a Trauma Surgeon Resident in a very prestigious hospital, and comes from a church going family, who happens to have a missing sister. In her attempts to find someone to help her find her missing sister, Alexis, she turns to some unsavory characters to get the information local authorities have been unable to turn up. She ends up in a precarious situation, trading one night of sexual favors, for this information. She was young, naive, and that situation could have ended much worse for her, and she realized that once the night was over. But unlike in some other books, Sloane did not stay a stupid naive young girl. That entire experience shaped her into a stronger person, who didn't take shit from anyone and took control of her life. Her neatly compartmentalized life.Then enters Zeth who fucks that all up. And continues to fuck it up, and Sloane loves it. She admits to herself, despite that Zeth is a criminal and a dangerous man, that she cares for him and doesn't lie to herself about how things may end up. She walked into it all with her eyes wide open, and just not giving a fuck- which I totally loved. It was in fact, one of my favorite things. Because she wasn't trying to tell herself he was this sweet nice guy underneath it all. I also appreciated that Zeth at no point tried to pretend to be a nice sweet guy either. And they seemed to have a real adult relationship, with open communication, even when it was uncomfortable. The character development really drove this story for me. I felt there was the right balance of action, sex, and romance (depending on how you define that for yourself), and that some of the plot holes weren't really so bad it ruined the story. Especially towards the end, there were alot of unanswered questions about a crazy DEA Agent, Alexis, and her relationship to a Motorcycle gang- but those things will all be explained in another book, as stated by the author, but not having that information didn't really detract from the story. It was still great.And although the two main characters do find a way to beat the odds, it was in a plausible way that made sense to the story, and it wasn't at all forced. A main character actually dies towards the end, and it was so authentic to who the character was, that although it may have upset some readers, the author did it anyway in order to stay true to personality of the character. I totally respect that in a writer. I'm probably going to end up recommending this series to a few friends. I thought it was really good and should have more traction.Thank you Ms. Callie Hart, for the good writing. ((smiles)) Ok so I don't think I can say enough good things about this book. Absolutely love these characters. That being said if I hadn't loved this series so much from the start I am not sure I would give this one 5 stars. The loose ends were all tied BUT it just felt lacking in some way. Maybe I needed a better epilogue. I am not a fan of reading a series of this length and then only getting a vague short term glimpse into the future. I need long term. Think, if you will Miss Kristen Ashley who will got 5-10 years forward to give us a future take. That is what I needed at the end of this. Hoping we get more of these characters.
What do You think about Collateral (2014)?
I really loved this series!! Can't wait for Rebel to be released!!
—nyla
4.5 love this series ! Can't wait for Rebel !
—moe_drummergal
