WHAT A POWERFULLY GOOD NOVEL! I liked that Lucy Tate was smart enough to stay on the down low to run from the dirty FBI agent that killed her parents murder and blame the deed on HER! She had ran while she changed her name and slept in dumpsters. She was tired of running and she knew enough to not let her boyfriend know, but she needed to tell him goodbye and be held one more time before she left for good. I loved that Zach did not give up on Lucy and together they planned to clear her name and take down the agent, but at what cost? ( )

Set Me Free is the second book in The Fugitive Series. I would highly recommend reading the first book, I Know Lucy before reading set Me Free. Dani had run away from Zach in an attempt to keep him safe from the man who was tracking her down. However, she couldn't find it in her heart to leave him, particularly without telling him the truth of who she really was, or saying goodbye. Instead, she turned around and found herself on his doorstep six weeks after leaving.

Dani confesses that her real name is Lucy Tate and that her parents were murdered and she has been on the run from the policeman that murdered them 5 years ago. Lucy is surprised that Zach already knows this, and that the policeman is not a policeman but an FBI agent. Lucy knows the only way to be able to stop running is to stop this man but she is terrified of him and what he will do to her friends if he finds out about them. Zach convinces her to let his Uncle Alex, a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle help them.

As in I Know Lucy, Set Me Free continues to use the same writing style with chapters written from Lucy's point of view written in first person, and chapters written from Zach's point of view in third person. I liked this difference in point of view style. I thought it provided interest to the story to look at things from more than one person's perspective.

I have to admit that after having looked forward to this book with such anticipation that I was somewhat disappointed with it. I was expecting (another) action-packed thriller, and while author Melissa Pearl did provide some of that, I was surprised to find this book to be too heavy on the sex and too light on the story. Everything seemed to do with either making out or having sex; even in how they planned to get the evidence they needed against FBI agent Tenner.

The story centred mainly around Zach and Lucy with a fair bit of Elliot and Alex. Sadly, in this sequel we saw only a little of the remaining four "besties" in the group of best friends from the first book. I have to admit I missed some of these supporting characters for their quirky humour and their caring friendship. Also, this being their last summer before they all head off to colleges in different directions, I thought they might have tried to spend more time together. That being said, this book didn't cover the entire summer either.

One of the things I do love about Zach is that he doesn’t just love Lucy for her body. He truly cares about Lucy. This was very obvious when he helped her get into the shower when she first arrived. He could totally have taken advantage of her sexually at that point, but he didn’t. It was all about taking care of her at that moment.

I did like that although Zach's parents felt that they had to cut their vacation short, they were kind enough to open their home to Lucy. I think that explains a lot about why Zach is such a caring individual himself.

I'd love to rate set Me Free the same as I have rated all the other Melissa Pearl books I have reviewed, but for the reasons stated above, I will have to give this one 3 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

This review is published on my blog Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2014/07/book-review-set-me-free-fug... ( )

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. The story of Dani aka Lucy continues as she tries to get her life back. I fell in love with the characters in the first book and they still captured my heart in this book. The plot is filled with twists and turns and just when you think you know something you are blindsided. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romantic suspense. ( )