This was a new author read for me. I've not read a book by Max Henry before, but I loved the sound of it, and really wanted to read it.
The start of the book is quite full on and extreme, Jane is in her mid to late 20's and married to a complete and utter waste of space, Dylan. You find out straight away that Jane is abused, and to quite an extreme standard, so if scenes of Domestic Violence hit a raw nerve or it's something you can't quite get on board with, in your books, this may shock or upset you. I did feel it was done well, and very emotional. It helped to start the story at Jane's lowest point.
Malice, lives next door to Jane, and can't bear to listen to what goes on next door any longer.
One night changes both of their lives forever.
I'm not going to summarise the story anymore as I feel I will probably end up, just spoiling it by telling too much of it. It needs to be unraveled by itself.
We get taken on a journey of recovery but also new fears, and issues are brought to light, and that is for all characters involved, not just Jane.
I really loved Malice's friends/team/brothers, a combination of all really. They are obviously all extremely close, and you can tell that they all have their stories to tell. They have grown up together through incredible hard times, and now work together. You have to wait until the end to really get the gist of what they do and how they are involved, but it's something that you know you want to learn more.
I actually found all the characters in this book were really addictive, and all had stories to tell, but Jane was such an incredible leading character. How on earth she managed to survive everything that was thrown at her, was unbelievable but it just made her such an admirable character. By the end of the book, she had grown so much, I didn't want their story to end. It felt like there was far more to their story that needed to be unraveled.
Malice and Jane, are most definitely a couple you 'need' to see get their happy ever after. Yet they aren't going to find that road easily. The chemistry that kicks in quite early on, is smoldering and you just know they would be so good for each other, if they could let go of what holds them back. Once things change, and they do give in to the desire that seems to sit heavily over them, it gets incredibly steamy.
The writing style of this book certainly had me gripped. It was dark and gritty and I just couldn't help but be addicted to each page, desperate to find out everything as quick as possible.
I can't wait to get on to the next book in the series. This is going to be an addictive series, I can tell already.
4.5 Stars.
**I was given an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review**
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