After the cliffhanger at the end of [b:Keeping King|27193458|Keeping King (Rock Falls, #4)|Anne Jolin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1444810558s/27193458.jpg|42582262], I was interested to see where the series was going to go with Jackon's story.

We are meeting the heroine, Kennedy Cross, for the first time in this installment of the series. She does have a connection to previous books in that she is the sister of Colt Cross, who was Peyton's sparring partner in [b:Keeping King|27193458|Keeping King (Rock Falls, #4)|Anne Jolin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1444810558s/27193458.jpg|42582262]. Kennedy and Colt had a sad childhood... it wasn't quite tragic, but it was not loving by any means. This, coupled with Kennedy's infertility, have left her with a need to have more control in her life. So she has some OCD tendencies, but not a full blown diagnosis. She loves children and is good at her job as a first grade teacher. I liked Kennedy, but I have liked all of the heroines in this series. I like that she was willing to fight for her HEA, despite all the problems and drama with Jackson, his mental health, and his baby mama.

We met Jackson Steele in the introductory book to the series, [b:Chasing Rhodes|27193308|Chasing Rhodes (Rock Falls, #1)|Anne Jolin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1444810337s/27193308.jpg|42265223], where he was the bi-polar manic depressive ex-boyfriend of the heroine, Hannah. After that first book, Jackson was more of a background character in the series so we don't know a whole lot about him. As with the other men of Rock Falls, Jackson is a vulnerable alpha male - the vulnerability being his disorder. He is a residential contractor/architect, and was roommates with Jayden until Peyton came along. I liked Jackson quite a bit, but his alpha dominant behavior seemed at odds with his manic depressive diagnosis. Although I don't think this particular mental affliction was portrayed accurately, but its been so long since I got my (useless) Psychology degree that it didn't bother me overmuch. All that aside, I had a good emotional connection to Jackson's character which kept me in the story and had me tearing up several times. Jackson's son, Ryker was adorable and tragic, a sweet little boy that you wanted to wrap up and protect from all the bad things in the world.

While I enjoyed this story and thought it had good bones, I wish I could have heard a little more of Anne Jolin's voice. I felt like I was reading a lot of phrasing/terminology and mannerisms that I have read before in [a:Kristen Ashley|2958084|Kristen Ashley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442937365p2/2958084.jpg]'s books. In addition, this is the third hero named Jackson Steele that I have read over the last year (two in the architecture/contracting profession). It's starting to get a bit confusing so I think we need to shake up the alpha male name database a bit.

Oh yes... I cannot leave without mentioning the "ooh ha ha" - that was certainly a new one for me.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 3 stars / 3 flames. ( )