I love TJ O’Shea’s first two books, so I was excited to read this, especially after some positive early reviews. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. While I did love the ending (yay!) and it picked up about 70% through, the beginning dragged. The politics were interesting and world-building was creative, but the romance wasn’t there initially for me. The author excels at putting two very different characters together - a writerly feat! - but in this case it took me a long time to understand why these 2 would be together. There were a couple plot points I didn’t understand- like why isn’t Lucy simply imprisoned and why the code names? The pros: the ending is sweet, interesting alternate reality, O’Shea is masterful at similes/metaphors, great side characters, and I did find myself wondering what would happen to these two as I went about my day. The cons: slow and not enough chemistry, a bit anti-climactic.

Short summary: in a dystopian US, there are the rebels and the wealthy region leaders. When Taylor (rebel) abducts Lucy (leader’s daughter), Lucy is pissed that the gorgeous woman dancing with her was all an act. Worse, she’s forced to accompany Taylor on assassination missions. The further Lucy gets from power, the more she starts to see the truth, the more she evaluates which side (if any) she wants to be on, and the more her attraction to her captor grows.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bella Books. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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