From goodreads: Evie Jamieson, a former wild child, is not only a headstrong, smart-mouthed trouble magnet, she is also a lead singer with a plan. That plan involves relocating her band, including her two best friends guitarist Henry and band manager Mac, to Sydney to kick off their dreams of hitting the big time.
Jared Valentine is the older brother of Evie’s best friend Mac and also the man determined to make Evie his. They strike up a long distance friendship which suits Evie because she’s determined to avoid the distraction of love, not only because it doesn’t fit in with her plan but because twice in the past it has left her for dead. Moving to Sydney however, has put her directly in Jared’s path and he has decided it’s the perfect opportunity to make his play.
Unfortunately Jared, co-owner in a business that ‘consults’ in dangerous hostage and kidnapping situations, makes an enemy who’s determined to enact revenge. When this enemy puts Evie in his sights, Jared not only has a fight on his hands to make her his own, but also to keep her alive.
Is accepting the love he’s so desperate to give worth the risk to both her heart…and her life?
ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is an entertaining story, one that’s filled with passion, humor and action. I think one of the things that I enjoyed about this story is that is takes place in Australia, the author is Australian and I could almost hear the Aussie accent while reading. There were moments that I had to stop reading to look-up certain words that are not part of U.S. vernacular and I found myself repeating them out loud. You know, to see if I could pull off an Aussie word or two.
The first few chapters were a bit confusing for me because everyone had a nickname and there were a number of characters that are introduced that are part of Evie’s and Jared’s friendship/family circle. I found myself having to re-read certain passages to ensure I had the characters straight. Once I got them down it was no longer an issue.
The other issue I had with the story was the use of the word retarded. I’ve always been envious of authors because of their natural ability to write stories and the ease in which they can describe feelings and thoughts. So when an author chooses to use a simple word such as retarded I feel slighted somehow. You might think I’m being overly sensitive and maybe I am but it’s a word that I don’t particularly care for and I find it jarring when I see it used in a book.
Evie, the musician and Jared, the black operations agent are the leads in this story. They start off as friends through texting and it blossoms into something more and each have their own emotional baggage to tote around.
There’s a natural push-pull between Evie and Jared that wasn’t forced and kept me hooked the entire time. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure if they would even make it as a couple because he was just as complex, if not more than Evie! I did want more of a back-story with Jared because while I knew he was complex, I needed more depth. The supporting characters in the story made me feel like I was watching an episode of friends because the banter between all of them was fantastic.
The bottom line is…it was an entertaining read but I wanted more. I wanted more depth and I wanted the complexities of what made Evie and Jared who they are. Again, not a bad book by any means and I do look forward to reading more books by Kate McCarthy. 
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