I was in two minds whether to review this or not, with it only being a novella, not a full novel. But since I’m reviewing the other four books in the series, I might as well go for the full set!

The book really was quite short, and much of the first half was a repeat of the end of the last book, just with a little bit more of the characters emotions in. We switch back and forth between Rose and Joe, so we can see both their sides of the story, but I did think the book was going to be a bit pointless until about halfway through when the plot progressed further than the end of the previous story.

I had thought that since we would see the story from Joe’s perspective, I might feel a bit more empathy towards his struggles in making such a difficult decision. And while I could see that it pained him to do so, I still felt like he was a bit spineless. OK, his father is a very powerful man, but Joe isn’t a puppet, and would his father really destroy his life if he doesn’t do what he wants?

What I did feel was a complete heartbreak for poor Rose. She’s only ever been in love once, and it has all ended so dramatically after just four months, and it has to hurt that the main reason that it’s over is to protect her sister. Her sister who seems to have crossed some sort of line and doesn’t have Rose’s back anymore, constantly niggling away at her self confidence like her brutish mother used to do. But Rose is a good person, so she could never risk her sister being hurt in the way that Joe’s father intends.

I do wonder why this was released as a novella instead of just the start of book four, unless the author hadn’t originally intended to write book four. It seems like it could have just been the opening to the new story. But who knows what book four will bring, only time will tell!