3.5 StarsLet me start this review by saying I had somewhat high expectations with this book. These expectations were based on previously read titles and other bloggers I follow. These titles were either light and funny or dark and addicting, filled to the brim with yummy men. This book, however, did not have the same feel and flow as these previous titles. It was hard for me to engage with Nikolai and Henri; at first, I couldn't tell why they were attracted to one another. Their interactions with each other felt forced and Henri came off as very acquiescent and Nikolai as shallow.The middle was much better. The dialogue and characterization seemed to flow better and more naturally. I really started to enjoy the characters more after the first two chapters. This could be due to less scenes with Henri and more scenes between Nikolai and his father, Vadim. (Readers may not be aware that Vadim has his own story in a multi-part novel available for free Voinov's website. Special Forces is much darker and explicit than this title and way more addictive.) It was wonderful to see Nikolai grow as a character to become more developed as a person.The end was still better than the first part but not as good as the middle. This could be due to the overall length of the story. There were quite a bit of details and drama packed in an 175 page story to resolve easily and satisfactorily. This story would have been better with a few hundred pages added to fully develop and resolve the issues between Nikolai and Henri and Nikolai, Henri and work.
