I had a little trouble getting into this book, which I had not found a problem with the rest of the series. But once into it, I enjoyed it. I thought Courtland to be an honorable man and his reluctance to give into his romantic feelings for Cassandra were understandable. Only after Ainsley explained to him that there are many kinds of love, did he express his feelings. The love he had for her mother was admiration and respectful love, especially since he had been treated so badly by his own father and had never known his mother. I really liked the camaraderie between the "brothers". The love scenes were just that... lovely. Although I didn't enjoy it as much as #5 and #6 in the series, it was still worth reading to the outcome of the villain. ( )

First, I have to say that I wasn't fond of the Court/Cassandra match, and found it to be a bit creepy. Not only because of the huge age difference, but because of the brother/sister connection, AND the fact that Court so obviously had a huge crush on Cassandra's mother, whom it's mentioned before that Cassandra looks exactly like. So, I find the whole thing really creepy on several levels. Perhaps die-hard fans of this series find the match to be very romantic. I just didn't. I honestly didn't want to even pick this last book up, but...since I'd stuck with the series this far, I really wanted to finish.

I have to say though that the last several books...including this one...were a huge disappointment. To drag the whole "Edmund Beales" story arc out over seven books was just too much. I was over it halfway through the series. I found myself skimming through the last three books more than reading them, which is a shame. This one is a must-read if you really feel you need to complete the series, but it's by far not the best of the series. ( )