Ugh, I should have written this forever ago. Now all I recall is really vague and confusing stuff.
I recall the end being only so-so, but enjoying the rest and being very keen to read the next book.
I recall liking the abilities and the relationship, even though i thought it was a bit predictable. And i enjoyed the not so evil overlord and other crime bosses.
So I'm going with a nice and somewhat neutral 3 stars, and hope the next book is a little more memorable and at least as fun to read.
Summary: The final book in the beloved #1 bestselling author's Slow Burn trilogy-a mesmerizing tale of romantic suspense in which a spirited young woman finds herself in trouble . . . and a hero must risk everything to save her
The third book in the beloved #1 bestselling author's sexy, romantic suspense Slow Burn series...
They say young love doesn't last, but a girl from the wrong side of the tracks with unique abilities and the hometown golden boy were determined to defy the odds. For Zack Covington, Anna-Grace -his "Gracie"-was the one. Until one night forever alters the course of their future, when a devastated Gracie disappears without a trace, leaving Zack to agonize over what happened to the girl he loved. As the years pass, his desperate efforts to find her uncovered nothing.
Now working for Devereaux Security, he stumbles across a painting featuring a special place only he and Gracie would know. The image is too perfectly rendered for it to be coincidence. His Gracie must be alive. When he finally tracks her down, he is shocked-and heart-broken-to discover the wounded shell of the girl he once knew and still loves. Her psychic gifts are gone, and worse, she believes he betrayed her all those years ago.
Zack has enemies, and once his weakness is discovered, Gracie becomes a target for revenge. He'll have to save her before he can earn her trust and her love. And he vows they'll never be torn apart again.
Title: Safe At Last
Series: Slow Burn #3
Author: Maya Banks
Publisher: Avon (imprint of Harper Collins)
Released: 23rd June 2015
Genre: Adult Romantic Suspense
Format: eGalley
Source: Via Sullivan and Partners on Edelweiss - thank you Caroline.
I am a huge fan of Maya Banks and had the pleasure of having High Tea with her when she visited Australia last December. Ms Banks is such a lovely, down to earth person and of course her books are just fabulous. I have read some of her Sweet series, which are awesome and this is the first I’ve read of the Slow Burn series. Not having read books 1 or 2 didn’t make any difference for me and the prose is wonderful, so easy to read as the story unfolds before your eyes.
Zack Covington is thirty-two years old and is tired of having his past invade his thoughts at every waking moment. Zack is determined to move on from the disappearance of his love, his whole world, Gracie twelve years ago. When she just up and disappeared without a word, Zack has been fraught with heartache ever since, never knowing if she was dead or alive. Working with Devereaux Security Services (DSS), Zack had hoped it would help him discover the truth about her, but nothing has turned up. Now he’s going to put it behind him, be happy and live in the present.
Fate has another path for him it would seem. Only two days after his promise to himself, a job comes up at an art gallery. Meeting with the client, a painting comes into view and Zack almost blacks out, the scene is one of a personal nature that only he and another know of, his Gracie. She’s alive?
Anna-Grace is been living in fear and in hiding for the last twelve years. She hasn’t faced her past and wants to keep running when Zack appears in the gallery. Everything from that night comes back to hit her full force. She is utterly terrified of Zack and beyond hurt from his betrayal that broke her heart and body.
When Zack learns part of Gracie’s story, he is sickened and then furious that Gracie would think he was capable of such things. Now determined to get to the bottom of that incident, Zack goes on the hunt. In the meantime, DSS has been given an appalling message, their enemy is still around and everyone associated with them is in danger.
Will Zack discover what really happened with Gracie twelve years ago? Will Anna-Grace listen to Zack and listen to her heart? Who is the foe threatening the lives of DSS agents? Can Zack and Gracie ever be truly happy and in love again? Safe At Last, will Gracie be finally safe?
Well, what a fabulous read from Ms Banks, which is the fact with every book she writes. Safe At Last was certainly a romantic suspense, it kept me on the edge of my seat with intrigue and with tears for Gracie and for Zack’s heartache. Everything was so emotionally charged that I couldn’t help but feel for these characters. This is a definite read for suspense readers and I will certainly be reading the rest in the series.
My name is Maya Banks and I live in Texas with my husband and three children and our assortment of pets. I’m more of a cat person, but my daughter became convinced she NEEDED a dog. So convinced in fact that it became her mission to convince her father and me. She prepared a two page handwritten proposal that detailed WHY she needed a dog, and well, after I sent her to her father (I knew he wouldn’t tell her no) we embarked on the search for the perfect dog. The journey that was two hours away and that I got pulled over for speeding while I was on the phone with my agent who had an offer from a publisher for one of my books… The officer wasn’t impressed. He wrote me a ticket anyway. Thus, I now tell my daughter that her dog turned into one very expensive concession! But isn’t he cute?
When I’m not writing, I love to hunt and fish with my family. We all love the outdoors and go on family hunting trips every year. We also love to travel. One of our more recent trips was to Scotland, which was every bit as comical as National Lampoon’s European Vacation. You know the part about “Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament” as they went round and round the roundabouts? Yeah, that was us, only we couldn’t even get out of the airport in Glasgow without hitting three of those suckers.
Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of a writing career is getting to meet so many wonderful readers. There’s nothing better than dishing books with someone who loves the romance genre as much as I do. Romance readers are passionate and vocal. We love our books, love our happily ever afters, and we love to spend time talking to others about our favorites. THIS is why I love my job so much, and I’m so grateful to readers who gave ME a chance when I began my career. So thank you.
~ bio and photo from Maya Banks website
Let's not skirt around the issue here- this book loses about a bajillion points* for having a man in a suit with his arms folded on its cover.
What does having your arms folded on the cover of your book say?
Typically one of two things:
1. "I'm taking back my America one book at a time!"; or (and this one is more common)
2. ADVICE!! "I am about to give you lots and lots of advice that will solve all of your problems and/or make you rich and/or force you to acknowledge that you'll never be able to follow my advice and, thus, are a failure."
Don't believe me? I'll let this little array speak for itself.**
Spoiler alert! (but not really), looks like George Soros fell victim to some terrible advice in book coveriness, because The Alchemy of Finance doesn't tell you how to do squat (or take back America, or the night for that matter, but I digress). So, if you're hoping for a step-by-step breakdown of how to land yourself in the top 20 of the Forbes 400, walk away now.
Why read this book if it won't make me rich??
If you're really asking yourself that question, then the answer is probably don't bother. However, if you're like me, (in addition to being awesome) you'll swoon as soon as he drops Karl Popper's name in the first ten pages (you know, the whole understanding of the self presupposes objectivity thing).
If that doesn't do it for you, don't walk away just yet. What this book is really about is Soros' theory of reflexivity, in "the markets" and how the assumptions of traditional Economics have gotten things oh so wrong. It's much more philosophical than it is financial, and George Soros is a pretty smart dude.
Why alchemy?
Alchemy and science are not the same thing (duh). Science is about finding an underlying truth — scientific theories are supposed to be "universally valid". Soros' theories of the market, however, are not. Why not? Because (according to Soros) he has been more prone to "predictive failures."
Alchemy, unlike science, is about operational success. This is why Soros has been able to fail to predict things about the world, but still rake in big bucks. The Market operates as a product of social phenomena- it's not like nature, where "laws operate independently of what anybody thinks."
"This creates an opening for alchemy that was absent in the sphere of natural science. Operational success can be achieved without attaining scientific knowledge. By the same token, scientific method is rendered just as ineffectual in dealing with social events as alchemy was in altering the character of natural substances."
Anything else?
I'm no economist, but I do like to dabble in the study of decision making, cognition and human behavior and, turns out, those things are pretty darn interrelated. My point? I'm probably going to bungle any attempt at real explanation, so I'll just point out a few bits and pieces.
- Homo economicus He doesn't exist, get over it! Humans are not rational actors and, even if we were, no one actually has all the options laid before them.
- Stock prices are the reflection of some underlying reality there is no "essential price" toward which a stock will inherently trend and certainly no reality that exists independent of our perceptions.
- Stock prices are shaped by underlying trends and prevailing biases which are then either self-reinforcing or self-correcting. Sometimes events fail to occur because they were anticipated.
- I'll give you one more for fun (and also because it confuses me): the act of lending changes the value of collateral.
Why the low rating?
This book is old (I think it's my junior by only a few years). Soros brings up interesting ideas, but IMHO there are far more interesting books to be read on most of them (e.g. if you want to talk recursion, then Douglas Hofstadter's your man). Maybe someone more familiar with The Market than I would disagree, but it's my review, and he did fold his arms while wearing a suit on the cover.
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* I'm sorry, but I can't be more precise due to adjustments for inflation and ever fluctuating currency markets, so you'll just have to live with my rough estimate.
** No, I haven't read any of these books, but can you blame me?
I would have given it a 4 but it felt too rushed in the end. I understand this is a series but I didn't care for how it ended.
Here is a blurb of what the book is about.
Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth... that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.
But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.
I am getting a little confused with where this story is going. But I may have been more tired than I thought when I was reading. I am thinking Aaron is more than he is portraying. Guess I'll find out soon enough.
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