This was probably my least favorite of the series. Not because it was a bad story in itself or a badly written story...it was that there was just so much turmoil, and sorrow, and conflict to wade through. Harlan, turns out to be more altruistic than predatory and that becomes the key to the entire story. Harlan has a past that is so incredibly devastating and heartbreaking in how he lost his job, his fortune his family...his entire life as he knew it. It came as such a shock to those of us that have read the other books. All the other books contained characters that were broken and tormented, but none like Harlan. What i did really like about the book was the way this author can take a totally unlikable character and make you end up caring about them...how she makes them vulnerable. Harlan was the bad guy in an earlier book making him very easy to dislike. When I saw he would be part of the couple in this story I wasn't sure how it would work out...how he could overcome his past. Harlan and Cort were men that had demons that needed to be dealt with. It took a while for me to get into this one. As always, I enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books. Since I'm hung up this series, I am looking forward to learning James's story. ( )