It's time for 'The Little Mermaid' to get the Emily McIntire treatment! Enzo comes to Atlantic Cove engaged to the beautiful but vapid Aria, daughter to the boss of the state's organised crime ring. He's the son of a New York mafia Don, and is content to do his duty. But when he meets Vanesa, Aria's witch of a cousin, sparks begin to fly as their dark deeds come to light.

Immediately, I can say that this takes the crown as my favourite of the Never After series. The story has the best feel and flow, the relationship is really engaging and keeps you invested, and the characters all evoke strong emotions from the reader. Considering the personal difficulties experienced by the author during the writing of this book, I actually think this may be the best writing of the series too. 

I love the fact that the attraction and UST between Enzo and Vanesa is sizzling from literally the moment they officially meet for the first time. We were warned that this was going to be a slow burn and it absolutely is, but it's not a frustrating wait; it feels naturally inevitable and reading about their attraction and back-and-forth just makes you want a relationship like theirs! Both characters have wonderful appeal individually too - Enzo appears incredibly well put together, sexy and confident, with a hint of that vulnerability which makes women melt and a violent dark streak, ultimately making him an almost perfect morally grey man! 

Vanesa, although seeking validation from her Uncle, is an incredibly strong woman, determined to only be reliant upon herself until she meets the one person who can match and compliment her without smothering her. What I really love about her though is that she encompasses a lot of diversity within one character; an out and proud bisexual, even in the face of people who don't support or accept that aspect of her; a curvy girl who is still portrayed as gorgeous and sexy; and a woman who wants to remain childless by choice who isn't made to feel guilty about it! And the way it's written, nothing comes across as controversial, but rather it's readily accepted.

The secondary characters are great too. Aria REALLY annoys me; she's a horrible character, a spoiled brat and an almost stereotypical mean girl... but that is precisely why she works! Both Enzo and Vanesa's underlings have great personalities, and are a riot when they come together, and the two family heads are just utter b*****ds. There isn't a single character that feels like filler or a placeholder; they've all been well developed and have a clear purpose. And there are moments throughout where you do question some of their motives, which adds an extra edge to the narrative. 

I did manage to pre-empt the majority of the twists, but nevertheless I enjoyed watching the story unfold and reward me for my correct guessing. There are a couple of small moments in the narrative which feel underdeveloped, but what I feel is missing from those moments is more character development / backstory / motivation, rather than a lack of driving the plot forward. Overall though, the pace feels pretty much spot on. 

It wouldn't be a Never After novel without a few good spicy scenes. Again, the magnetic draw between the two characters is electric, so when they do get down to business, it really is a release of tension! And I love the fact that they don't shy away from PDA - the fact that their underlings keep having to leave the apartment because they can't keep their hands off of eachother just gives me the warm fuzzies!

I know this is meant to be the last of the series, but I really hope it isn't - I will continue to buy books by this author as long as they keep being released!