Oh my goodness! This book was ridiculously thrilling!

We start the book 5 weeks after Joe left, and Rose is finally starting to feel better. She still misses Joe, but it’s not long all consuming, and she’s getting back to a semblance of normal life. Well, kind of. She’s hardly speaking to her sister Violet, who was the main reason she had to give up on her relationship with Joe. And for some reason, Bruce Wayne has stopped turning up to work to help her with her landscaping jobs, which has Rose very worried since she doesn’t want him to break his parole and end up back in jail.

Mason is being the most patient man, sticking true to his promise to give her as long as she needs to get over Joe, saying he’ll wait as long as she needs.

Apart from that, everything seems to be going comparatively okay for Rose, until two bad things happen in one day to completely flip her life upside down. First, she gets the news that Daniel Crocker has escaped from prison, and since she was the one that put him there, and she knows that he holds a grudge, that puts the fear in her. Then, she has to contend with Joe coming back into town on a campaign stop to give her business a $200,000 small business grant, although she’s pretty sure that it’s all a stunt organised by Joe’s dad.

Although at least it gives her chance for two things. Firstly, she can tell Joe once and for all that their relationship does not and will never have a future. Secondly, she finally realises that she’s ready to move on and think about exploring a relationship with Mason.

Which seems like it will be great, until Rose wakes up one morning to her bed covered in rose petals, leading in a trail to her living room, with the sofa covered in ketchup in a replication of the scene of where Crocker murdered Rose’s mother.

Rose has to get away, and quickly. She’s taken into witness protection, firstly to the Henryetta police safe house, which turns out not to be so safe. She then ends up holed up in her birth mother’s farm house with Mason, who has also now been threatened by Crocker.

But it seems like this safe house may not be too safe either, with Mason convinced that there’s a leak within the Sheriff’s department. But can they find the leak before it’s too late? We end up on a thrilling journey with Rose and Mason as they try desperately to keep away from the clutches of Crocker and his cronies.

I know I said I couldn’t put down the other books in this series, but by George this was in another league. I was gripped from start to finish and I swear the adrenaline was pumping as if I was there with Rose and Mason.

I found the ending quite unexpected, with help coming from the most unusual place. But the decisions that Rose made definitely made me smile, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I can’t believe the next in the series isn’t released until June, I don’t know that I can wait that long!