Susan F. (scoutmomskf) -
Excellent conclusion to the series. Noah has been proven to be Jackson Adair, the missing half-brother to the other Adairs. He has to adjust to being brother instead of cousin, and decide just how involved he wants to be with his new family. He's feeling off-kilter since everything he had believed before has been shown to be a lie.
Noah had grown up as an only child, with his mother keeping him fairly isolated from other people. The only change had been one summer that he spent at the Adair ranch, when he met his "cousins" and "uncle" and started to feel like part of a family. As an adult, he came to live in the guesthouse on the ranch and work on the ranch itself. While there, he got to know Rachel, who came to him for riding lessons. They became good friends, with the potential for it to become more. That is until he discovered that she had been watching him for his new siblings. Hurt and angry, he felt that it was one more betrayal in his life.
Rachel had started getting to know Noah as a favor for her best friend. But it didn't take long for her to like him for himself. She felt guilty about what she had been doing, especially as their relationship started to heat up. Unfortunately, telling him got exactly the reaction she was afraid of, and his reaction broke her heart. On her way to visit her friend, someone tried to run her over with a car, leaving Rachel injured and with a concussion.
Though Noah had been angry, knowing that Rachel is hurt brings him running. Learning about the suspicious circumstances, he insists on staying with her until her concussion has healed. She is attacked again when Noah leaves the house for a short time. At that point he insists on taking her back to the ranch, where there is better security and protection.
Though his willingness to trust Rachel has been damaged, Noah can't deny that he still has strong feelings for her. As he keeps her near him in order to protect her, those feelings continue to grow. I loved seeing them work their way back to each other as they also worked out who was behind the attacks. I loved the ending as Noah and Rachel realized that life can be unpredictable and facing it together makes them stronger. I loved the party at the end and the surprise that Rachel had for Noah.
The suspense of the story was fantastic. After Noah's identity is confirmed, suddenly the two people he has come to care about the most are victims of attacks. His real mother ends up in the hospital with smoke inhalation. The attacks on Rachel are even worse. A suspect in the attacks becomes obvious and Noah, desperate to keep Rachel safe, attempts to set a trap. It doesn't go quite as planned and Noah ends up in a dangerous situation. The final confrontation was intense as the trap closed, and the killer was finally caught. I was happy to see that my suspicions from the previous book turned out to be correct.
Noah had grown up as an only child, with his mother keeping him fairly isolated from other people. The only change had been one summer that he spent at the Adair ranch, when he met his "cousins" and "uncle" and started to feel like part of a family. As an adult, he came to live in the guesthouse on the ranch and work on the ranch itself. While there, he got to know Rachel, who came to him for riding lessons. They became good friends, with the potential for it to become more. That is until he discovered that she had been watching him for his new siblings. Hurt and angry, he felt that it was one more betrayal in his life.
Rachel had started getting to know Noah as a favor for her best friend. But it didn't take long for her to like him for himself. She felt guilty about what she had been doing, especially as their relationship started to heat up. Unfortunately, telling him got exactly the reaction she was afraid of, and his reaction broke her heart. On her way to visit her friend, someone tried to run her over with a car, leaving Rachel injured and with a concussion.
Though Noah had been angry, knowing that Rachel is hurt brings him running. Learning about the suspicious circumstances, he insists on staying with her until her concussion has healed. She is attacked again when Noah leaves the house for a short time. At that point he insists on taking her back to the ranch, where there is better security and protection.
Though his willingness to trust Rachel has been damaged, Noah can't deny that he still has strong feelings for her. As he keeps her near him in order to protect her, those feelings continue to grow. I loved seeing them work their way back to each other as they also worked out who was behind the attacks. I loved the ending as Noah and Rachel realized that life can be unpredictable and facing it together makes them stronger. I loved the party at the end and the surprise that Rachel had for Noah.
The suspense of the story was fantastic. After Noah's identity is confirmed, suddenly the two people he has come to care about the most are victims of attacks. His real mother ends up in the hospital with smoke inhalation. The attacks on Rachel are even worse. A suspect in the attacks becomes obvious and Noah, desperate to keep Rachel safe, attempts to set a trap. It doesn't go quite as planned and Noah ends up in a dangerous situation. The final confrontation was intense as the trap closed, and the killer was finally caught. I was happy to see that my suspicions from the previous book turned out to be correct.
