I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was curious to see how things would go with these two characters, but it just didn’t quite work for me.
Landon was an unlikeable, entitled bully in the first book in the series. Somehow, the switch has been flipped and he starts out being a bit more likeable at the start of this book with no real explanation. So, the character arc was a bit lacking there.
Harper was someone who I liked much more in the first book than this one, and that’s unfortunate since she’s the main character here.
While Sloane and Gabe play a minor role in this book as well, they’re seen through Harper and Landon’s uncharitable viewpoints, coming across as much weaker and unlikeable characters than they were in the first book.
Overall, I enjoyed Landon the most in this story, but it’s hard to reconcile with how much I disliked him in the first book, especially with no real explanation for his transformation. His unwavering respect for and desire to please Hunt seem to come out of nowhere. So, perhaps some inciting incident could have explained it, but we don’t see that.
I think perhaps I would have enjoyed this story more if it were a standalone story (or I hadn’t read the first book), and you can certainly read it that way.
I will admit that I’m looking forward to Reagan’s story since her favorite ’80s movie was Dirty Dancing. Harpers was The Outsiders, which I never enjoyed all that much myself. So that too may be my disconnect with this story line. I can’t be certain.