Lake Chapel was supposed to be my fresh start: an opportunity to reinvent myself; my chance to finally live.

Now I’m grappling with the demons of my past… and losing.

To survive this setback, I’ll need the support of the four possessive, domineering men who think I belong to them. But can my captors really be my salvation?

Worlds are bound to collide. Friendships will be tested, and rivalries are revving up.

I can’t slip back into the dark—not now that I know what it’s like to live in the light.

For the first time in my life, it’s more than just me I’m fighting for.

It’s them.

Kylian. Locke. Decker. Even Kendrick.

It’s all of them, and all of us together.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 | 🌶️🌶️

Kindle – 52 Ch | 401pg

So, I started reading this on my birthday and I finished it the day after when I was tired and sporting a headache from all the birthday excitement. I’m not complaining, I had a fantastic birthday, but the headache was a little too intense.

Luckily, the concerns I found myself experiencing at the end of book 1 did not linger for long at the beginning of this book and were dispelled rather quickly. However, this book does contain a lot of trigger warnings, so I would advise you to take note of them on the front page – if reading from kindle – before stepping into the story.

This book had a higher emotional intensity level. It was charged from beginning to end and it was as much a development of character relationships as it was a unifying action for the plot. The dynamics between Jo, Kylian, and Locke intensifies in this book. They already had a good standing dynamic from the first book, but it is considerably ramped up here. There is development for both Locke and Kylian, it is motivated by deep emotions, triggered emotions from passed experiences. Watching Jo interact with Kylian and Locke individually and together cemented the relationship between them and allowed the reader to gain a better understanding of the character’s trajectory.

Kendrick does a 180 in this book, going from mean and standoffish to warming up to Jo. It is interesting to watch his character get to the point of acceptance and gain a sense of relief and freedom. He has a slower start to bond with Jo than both Kylian and Locke, but it doesn’t deter his determination in any way. He is committed to gaining Jo’s trust and respect and that is very present through his character journey in this book.

Decker, is, different. His character is more complex than I’d been led to believe in book 1 and getting the opportunity to see him open up in this book and to catch a glimpse of his past and why he acted the way he did made me respect his character more. He walks a dangerous path I think, between what is expected of him and what he really wants.

That’s a hard place to be for anyone. Reading it in the content of a story makes it feel rawer and seem more earnest. Out of all four men, Decker is the one with the most to make up for in terms of Jo and he is the one male character who needs to be accepted as he is. There is no changing him for the better, he is who he is, he can bend but will not be broken.

There were many funny moments in this book and many emotionally charged scenes. It wasn’t very high on the spice scale, probably a light 2, just for some 2 on 1 action, but not anything particularly spicy.

I did feel that we lost some of the background with this book. With everything that was going on, the fact that they are all attending university seems to disappear into the background and this did annoy me slightly. I like consistency.

The ending of this book was both expected and unexpected. I actually expected this sort of ending to be a scene in the third book, so it was slightly startling to have it appear so quickly. I have many thoughts as to where the opening of book 3 will take me and I’m hoping the fall out of character actions won’t become a stereotypical plot point.