On the surface, each of these novels does stand alone, but I love that this bit of family drama evolves across books. This particular story point, in which Thomas Mulvaney (adopted father/principal investigator if this crazy experiment) might not have gotten everything “right,” is also explored in the continuing saga of least-known brother Aidan. The way the other Mulvaney brothers treat Atticus has always made me slightly uncomfortable in the previous installments of this series, so I appreciate that this story point is explored here from both Jericho and Atticus’ perspectives. Atticus might not know how to interpret all of his emotions, but he does know that he can’t help but respond to Jericho in a way that supports him better than the other relationships in his life, past and present. Instead, Jericho’s emotional trauma expresses itself in how he defines his relationship with Atticus, which is simultaneously romantic and incredibly sexy. However, just because Jericho can feel empathy doesn’t mean he isn’t willing to “take out the trash” and then experience no emotional trauma over it. As with all other personality aspects, psychopathy is a spectrum just because Atticus happens to fall on that spectrum doesn’t mean he particularly enjoys the tasks set to him by his father’s “experiment.” On the other hand, Jericho belongs 100% on Team Emotion with Noah and Lucas, other Mulvaney brother partners. It would have been so easy for this series to get repetitive quickly, but James continues to amaze me with her ability to create striking, unique characters of all types.

Disclaimer: I received an electronic ARC of this novel from the author.

Moonstruck onley james