haletostilinski1's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars!
Wow, what a ride this was. I gave .5 stars off because the beginning felt a little strange to me, and I don't know why that was. Maybe it was Henri's behavior? Or...something, I don't know. It just felt a little off to me. (Also the guys on the cover look nothing like the MC's, so that's weird.)
But then as the story progressed I started to like it more and more and I ended up loving this story. It was intense and scary, but it also had room for romance and sexual tension and passion.
Henri has been in Canada for two months, having moved from Australia, when his stalker from almost three years ago comes back into his life. He thought he was rid of Russell, the man who stalked him for a year before he captured and tortured him for days. But somehow Russell got out and is stalking Henri once again.
When Henri goes into a coffee shop to call Jason, the brother of his (unfortunately dead) best friend and a bodyguard....of sorts, he meets Birch who sees Henri panicking and comes over to help, although he doesn't know that doing a kind thing will change his life forever.
What follows is Birch helping Henri to escape Russell, and he's put in Russell's sights, just because he was associated with Henri.
So then because of that, he has to go into hiding and protection with Henri, because Russell could try to get to Henri through Birch - even though Birch and Henri just met when he helped Henri out, that doesn't matter to Russel.
Henri and Birch's relationship is a little strained at first, a little love/hate like, but once they get to know each other and start to fall for each other, and Birch learns the extent of what is happening, who Russell is, and what he did to Henri, it all changes between them.
Birch became a light in the dark for Henri, a reason to feel alive again, to want to be more than the shell of his former self he's been the past few years.
I enjoyed these two together and they had good chemistry, and once they became intimate it was off the charts hot. I love when books can show through the intimacy of sex why two characters love each other, why it's more than just sex, through that intimacy, through the passion, and the feelings being together evokes for the characters. Some romance books don't do that and you kinda lose some of the connection if the sex scenes aren't done right. (Not that sex scenes are everything, as not all romance books include sex, but sometimes it doesn't add much to their connection if it is included and it makes me wonder why the author bothered to write a sex scene)
This was a surprising gem for me. The climax was also nail biting and intense, and Russell will not go quietly...but Henri is able to save himself in a great way. I was so happy with how it turned out.
And these two get a pretty solid HFN, and I was happy with how this ended. Two thumbs up from me!
Wow, what a ride this was. I gave .5 stars off because the beginning felt a little strange to me, and I don't know why that was. Maybe it was Henri's behavior? Or...something, I don't know. It just felt a little off to me. (Also the guys on the cover look nothing like the MC's, so that's weird.)
But then as the story progressed I started to like it more and more and I ended up loving this story. It was intense and scary, but it also had room for romance and sexual tension and passion.
Henri has been in Canada for two months, having moved from Australia, when his stalker from almost three years ago comes back into his life. He thought he was rid of Russell, the man who stalked him for a year before he captured and tortured him for days. But somehow Russell got out and is stalking Henri once again.
When Henri goes into a coffee shop to call Jason, the brother of his (unfortunately dead) best friend and a bodyguard....of sorts, he meets Birch who sees Henri panicking and comes over to help, although he doesn't know that doing a kind thing will change his life forever.
What follows is Birch helping Henri to escape Russell, and he's put in Russell's sights, just because he was associated with Henri.
So then because of that, he has to go into hiding and protection with Henri, because Russell could try to get to Henri through Birch - even though Birch and Henri just met when he helped Henri out, that doesn't matter to Russel.
Henri and Birch's relationship is a little strained at first, a little love/hate like, but once they get to know each other and start to fall for each other, and Birch learns the extent of what is happening, who Russell is, and what he did to Henri, it all changes between them.
Birch became a light in the dark for Henri, a reason to feel alive again, to want to be more than the shell of his former self he's been the past few years.
I enjoyed these two together and they had good chemistry, and once they became intimate it was off the charts hot. I love when books can show through the intimacy of sex why two characters love each other, why it's more than just sex, through that intimacy, through the passion, and the feelings being together evokes for the characters. Some romance books don't do that and you kinda lose some of the connection if the sex scenes aren't done right. (Not that sex scenes are everything, as not all romance books include sex, but sometimes it doesn't add much to their connection if it is included and it makes me wonder why the author bothered to write a sex scene)
This was a surprising gem for me. The climax was also nail biting and intense, and Russell will not go quietly...but Henri is able to save himself in a great way. I was so happy with how it turned out.
And these two get a pretty solid HFN, and I was happy with how this ended. Two thumbs up from me!
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