finally went back to read the first book after tearing through the rest of the series.  glad that despite giving up on this halfway through the first time I listened to the reviews and gave Cade and Willa a shot.  honestly I got way more out of this with the context of the rest of the series (and forgot that the Rob/Winter history was actually a secret and a point of conflict), but I do think it falls short of books 2-4.