...Bookfanatic

I was all prepared to read a Mary Clames book that I didn't like, truly I was. Truly it didn't happen. Nope by the end of this book I was gushing and sighing as if it was Sam and Jory. But it wasn't this is the 7th book in their series but other than a very brief appearance by Sam in one scene and the occasional mention of Jory, they didn't really factor in to this story. This story was Aaron Stutter, who I freely admit is not a favorite of mine, not even a little bit. Well at least he wasn't until this book and Duncan Steil who I remember from book 6, But For You, just barely and not in any great detail. So how could I possibly end up not just liking this book, but loving these two characters. Well I have only one answer for that "It's Mary Calmes".

The lady knows what she's doing and she's obviously doing it well. Up until now, for me Aaron was just a self indulged rich boy and Duncan, well he was a new ball game, because there was so little of him in the other books he may as well have been a new character. Which was good. I think part of why this ended up being such an enjoyable read for me was that fact that I got to see beyond the surface with Aaron, he was finally given a depth of character and he had flaws, beyond what seemed like the obvious rich boy entitlement.

Neither one of these men came off as being perfect, but they were passionate about each other and with each other. They also seemed to be aware of the fact that their relationship would never work if they didn't figure out compromise and partnership.

I can't help but wonder if this book was titled Parting Shot because it's the end of the road for this series, if it is than Ms Calmes has done it up right giving us an incredible farewell and if it's not I will still much to my surprise be very happy to read more about Aaron and Duncan.