It was such a weird thread to leave hanging. There are discussions about the hard times the farmers are going through so it touches upon real world events at times here and there. It seems like a teeny tiny town, but at other times it sounds quite large. The setting of Paradise is hard to picture. I didn't think at times that Eli's voice was authentic. The flow though was a bit off jumping around like that. I think that James did a good juggling all of those voices and showing Kayla's ex obsession with her and punishing her for daring to go against him. We get POVs from Eli, Luke, Kayla, and even Kayla's abusive ex. We get reappearances by former characters and of course set up for the focus of the next book in this one. He quickly pushes (slightly) into helping them when he can and hanging back and not trying to do more than that with either of them. He quickly realizes that Kayla and her son Eli don't need a pass through the night man, they need a solid person to be there. Luke Jackson has a FWB situation finally ending and realizes that his new neighbor may be the answer.

We find out that Kayla has reached out to a domestic violence organization, and she's going to leave her life behind and start over again in the town of Paradise, Idaho that she has fond memories of as a child. We have Kayla Chambers who after being hit again by her boyfriend, goes on the run with her son when he drops them off at the laundromat. Still deciding about reading the next two books in the series or just passing on that. I didn't much care for the first book, and this second one ran to good to meh to me as well. 'Hold Me Close' is part of James romantic suspense books. He is interested in Kayla, but realizes he can't and won't rush things with not just her, but also with Eli. I think that James handles the subject matter delicately, and I liked that there are discussions about it with her son Eli about the fact that he knew that his mother was being hit and why she stayed until she finally ran. This book has a tough subject matter though, domestic abuse. I was happy well enough with the characters of Kayla and Luke as well as Kayla's young son.

Well another reviewer pointed out the huge plot point that was left unaddressed, so I don't feel bad for thinking the big was a bit off without resolving that.

Just Say (Hell) No by Rosalind James