Book 2 is definitely a lot better than book 1. I love how Julia has finally come out of her shell and grown stronger. I actually love that she's so moral and religious... We don't get to read about main characters being religious any more. The romantic scenes are very well written. They are sweet and kind and sensual and hot(though tbh since people have likened it to fifty shades so much I was expecting a lot of other stuff; but I was wrong and gladly so.) Gabriel is also growing but we've already seen the drastic change in book 1 where he went from cold to cool and hotheaded to just someone who's really hot! Some of the events were quite predictable but they were necessary and we are definitely kept interested in other stuff. The parts with Richard make me incredibly sad and even though grace has been dead right from the beginning, she plays a big role and makes me wish she wasn't dead.I also really like Paul. Normally we'd see the friend-zoned admirers turning evil and into complete jerks; but not this guy- he's strong, chivalrous, sweet, handsome, smart and totally not a douche. Loving the series and hope that book 3 doesn't spoil it (like some reviews say so)