*3-3.5-really want to give this 4 but the struggle is fierce stars* 
 First, this was much better than Book 1. I did not have the urge to want to punch the hero and heroine (well most of the time at least). I actually loved the tension and angst that played out between playboy Beck and reformed bad girl Harlow. It seemed much more organic and they actually had great chemistry. I liked that they kept fighting their feelings but longed for each other at the same time. Beck thinking Harlow deserves better than him yet going unhinged at the idea of her with someone else was fun to watch. They were sweet, cute and hilarious together. I actually really liked Beck. Unlike Jase, he had some character depth and personality, and he stood out. But it all went to shit in the last quarter of the book for me. The last 80 pages just lost all steam and fun. My biggest issue: the ridiculously syrupy, cheesy, overdone dialogue. 
 Lincoln West stood beside him, slightly taller but just as well muscled--just as gorgeous--with the smoldering intensity of a man on death row, whose last meal would be the females he trapped in his sights. 
 "Favorite food." 
 "You." 
 Heat spilled over her cheeks. "Beck." 
 "What? I said I'd be honest." 
 "Then you should have gone with pie." 
 "Baby, you're sweeter than pie, and that's a fact." 
 Moving on, before she took his mouth with her own. 
 "What's your favorite memory?" 
 "Being inside you." 
 Seriously? Where does Gena get this inspiration from? 
 Nobody 
 talks this way. The number of baby, baby suddenly coming from Beck made me want to smack him. What happened to the special nicknames he kept giving her? I liked those more. The cornball lines he kept throwing out near the end came off like horrible pick up lines that I couldn't take seriously. This was reminding me a lot of those erotica novels where the heroes talk like bad stereotyped cartoons with the cutesy pet names every other line. Ick. It drives me fucking BONKERS. I'm sorry it's just trying too hard and not natural to me. 
 Second, the nonsensical back and forth getting together/breaking up/making up in a matter of a few days was stupid and a little juvenile for me. Our heroine believes in HEA and wants to find her forever guy who she can marry and have kids with. She's not willing to compromise on it. Ok fine. But asking a guy you've only known for 3 weeks and just gotten together with for a few hours if he feels trapped and what he sees in their future? 
 Cuckoo for cocoa puffs girlie. In no shape or form is this reasonable or normal behavior. Harlow could be filed under the 'crazy girlfriend' file because of this. I get what Gena was trying to do given her personal beliefs but trying to force feed it into here just didn't work for me. You can't expect readers to empathize with this logic when it makes zero sense in the context it's written. You CANNOT ask that of a guy you just got together with. It's the same as asking a guy on a blind date when he wants to get married. And yes Harlow really did obsessively harp on the marriage thing too like it was totally fair of her to ask. It made the heroine come off supremely crazy and unreasonable. I tried to cut Harlow some slack with her wishy washy attitude (by demanding for Beck to commit to a relationship then back peddling later saying she changed her mind) given her lack of experience with guys and relationships. But her behavior and knee jerk panicked OH NO! reactions to certain things without thinking things through like an adult made me want to slap her a few times. 
 And the typical Gena brand of humor with the adults acting like OTT silly cartoons hissing and skipping away was a little too much. Given the genre, it's really hard to swallow a small town full of adults acting like this. Everyone and their mother and grandmother in here holds a grudge of some sort against Harlow for something she did as a teenage bully. Even going so far as wishing her dead, pulling nasty public pranks, name calling, turning her into an indentured maid for sport (are you serious?!), not giving her any job or food etc, etc. You even have former teachers hissing at her (what's with all the hissing?) for something she did as a kid. SHE WAS A KID. From a broken home. I found it all utterly ridiculous and pushing it. These are supposedly grown ass adults. Note to Gena: This is not the LOTU world where anything and everything can be taken to extremes. Cut it out. I beg you. 
 All in all, I did enjoy this up until the 300 page mark. I really struggled to rate this because of that. I enjoyed the slow build up between the hero and heroine. Gena does good angst when she decides not to go the insta-lust/love route. Beck trying to make Harlow comfortable and put her at ease around him was sweet and endearing. I love how natural and playful they were around each other. Really great chemistry and sexual tension that slowly built up. If it wasn't for the silly nonsense after they finally hooked up I would have given this a 4 stars without hesitation. 
 And after reading this I went back and changed my rating for Book 1. Yes I took a star off. Just because Jase and Brook Lynn were disgustingly cutesy and cloying-to-the-max in here it should be illegal. Lord I don't know if it's my hormones or what, but they made me want to go stab stab stabby on them. *eye twitch* He's a complete brainless puppy dog around her and nothing more. I swear I'm expecting her to put a leash on him and take him for walks. It's just gag worthy. It's too damn much and hard to get into. I like my alpha men a little more realistic and understated. *shrugs*