So this book actually spoke to me a lot more than I expected. I thought that it wasn’t going to be any good but I was so shocked to find that I enjoyed it a little more than the previous books. Don’t get me wrong, I really do think that Hardin is an ass that has problems and that the relationship he has with Tessa is toxic but the last hour or so of this audiobook made me change my rating. There is A LOT that happened to harden including parental emotional abuse. It explains exactly why he can’t have nor maintain a healthy relationship with Tessa. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an excuse BUT it is an explanation. For a while I just believed that Hardin was an awful person but he has some serious trauma that needs to be dealt with. This book was long and I listened to 24 hours of it on audio. There was drama, smut scenes that I didn’t care about, but also a lot of character exploration. We see Tessa make some really brave decisions regarding her career and not allowing a man to stop her from following her dreams; we also see her focus on attempting to build a relationship with an estranged parent. There are a lot of different components, but some material did say the same including Hardin’s co-dependency on Tessa, his need to be controlling, and his abysmal temper. I’m hoping that before the series ends I’m able to see him get the help he needs and deserves.