I enjoyed this series when it first started but the last few books haven't excited me. I thought about breaking up with the series and with Garwood's book, but I haven't been able to. I thought about skipping this book but decided to try again. It didn't work for me. As I was preparing this post, I saw that it has a 4 star rating on goodreads. I gave it 2 stars. 
 I'm not a fan, in real life or fiction, of domineering males, who think they know everything. Aiden, our hero, is arrogant, rude, overbearing, occasionally kind, and veers between treating Cordie like a princess and a prisoner. When she's injured after an attempt on her life, he holds her in his penthouse, under close guard, for her protection. Sounds okay, right? He's trying to keep her safe and simultaneously providing medical care for her. But he completely ignores her wishes, refuses to let her leave when she asks, and orders the guards to prevent her from leaving. She's a competent adult, capable of making her own decisions but you wouldn't know it by the way he behaves.So most of Aiden's scenes annoyed me or pissed me off. 
 Then there's the chauvinism. I had to keep checking to verify that this was a contemporary story and not from the 50s or 60s or a historical. Several times during the story, when Garwood describes scenes where Aiden is at a meeting or a dinner, only the men conduct business while the women are just eye candy. 
 From that point on he was distracted by a steady stream of men and women who recognized him. Each man wanted to talk about various projects he just knew Aiden would want to invest in, and each woman simply wanted Aiden. 
 This occurs several times. WTF? Is this a fantasy world where women don't engage in business? It's presented as a contemporary romance but scenes like this pulled me right out and left me wondering when and where this story was occurring. 
 I wanted to like this story. I did like Cordie, though she was a little too perfect at times, a little too Mary Sue. She and Aiden have been part of this series for years as secondary characters and they finally got their book and their romance. Although there's been simmering heat between them for a while, when the sex finally happened it, felt too fast and not all that sexy. After the first one, I skipped over the sex scenes. 
 There's a 'mystery' that wasn't really a mystery as Garwood telegraphed the identity of the perpetrator early on; I think it was supposed to be a twist but she was too obvious about it. The search for information about Cordie's mother was interesting and I enjoyed that part of the story. The romance lacked heat and I just didn't see Aiden's appeal, other than being rich and good-looking. Yes, Cordie has loved him for a long time but as I said, I just didn't see it. I did enjoy re-visiting her friends Regan and Sophie and their husbands. There are small inconsistencies, lots of cliches, tired stereotypes, and most of the story was predictable. It felt as if the author simply phoned in the story while sleeping. 
 Will I continue with the series? Maybe, but doubtful. Your mileage may vary.