Genre: ADULT romance, contemporary,

Age range: 18+

Spice: 3.5/5

Overall: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 3.5/5

Writing and Setting: 5/5

Content warning: *Drinking, sex, rape (mention), death of parents (mentioned), death of family (mentioned), drug use, miscarriage (mentioned), swearing

The gist of my review:  

The first book in this series had a profound effect on me from the get go. I was a little bit uncertain about this book, because the focus is delving into the life of a totally different MC, but I’m absolutely delighted to be proven wrong. 

This book really drove home the underlying message of being able to find yourself and your own place in a world when big changes are happening all around you. Change can be stressful and it can really make you question your choices and motivations, and this book and the MC only goes to show you that adaptability and a desire to better yourself in the face of adversity will make you a better person in the long run. 

Jake, the main character, has previously been seen as the loveable sidekick, so it was really nice to see him have his time in the limelight (both metaphorically and literally). Much like Ari, from the first book, I really admired Jake’s strength and hard work throughout his story. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in the series, which will continue with Greg’s perspective and his challenges moving forward.

We see a lot of character development in this book rather than a great overarching plot as a whole, but that definitely isn’t a reason as to why you shouldn’t read this book. I think Christina Berry is a great author, and she does phenomenally well at hiding little underlying messages and morals to the story. 

Characters: 5/5

As I’ve mentioned, Jake is our main character. In the first book he is the best friend of both Ari and Greg and he is the comedic relief throughout their tale. 

At the beginning of this book, we really delve into how much the lives of Greg and Ari really affects Jake. There were moments throughout the book where he taps into some very profound and deep emotions. I personally found him, as a character, so much more attractive when he was confronting these emotions. Jake doesn’t hide behind toxic masculinity. He very proudly expresses how he feels towards just about everything. 

In the beginning, we see Jake as this really disheveled and chaotic character, but throughout the book he really grows into himself and starts taking charge of his own destiny. This was all helped by the addition of Nicole ( better know around the roller derby rink as Arson Nic) into Jake’s life. 

Nicole is a sharp tooth, flirty, bad ass woman with an incredibly deep and harrowing past. At first it’s clear that she struggles with the idea of letting anybody into her life, but we see a huge amount of growth and trust develop within her as a character. Not only does she encourage a sense of independence in Jake, but he encourages a sense of dependence in her towards himself and others. 

All in all, I think the two characters really challenged each other in the beginning with this incredible firepower for a romance, but as the book progresses, they both challenge each other to be better versions of themselves. 

Plot: 3.5/5

Please don’t take this rating as an indication to not read the book. The plot wasn’t overly important to the progress of the storyline. The main feature of the book is the character development and the character growth, and we see huge amounts of both of those qualities as mentioned above.  

Writing and Setting: 5/ 5

The writing is easy enough to read, and I really loved the addition of Cherokee language and traditional elements that really acknowledged Jake’s Native American background.

Jake’s perspective took us across a lot of America and really delved us into brief glimpses of Native Indian culture. The settings really helped solidify the idea that Jake has made this incredible journey toward self-discovery and finding his family. 

Thank you so much to Christina Berry and her team for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC copy of your book. I loved this story so much.