FINAL DECISION:  I really wanted to love this book, but I found too many things that just bothered me about this couple and the story.  I’m willing to give it another chance by reading the trilogy as a whole, but the construction of the series with its multiple dramatic cliffhangers, just felt like too much running in place even as I enjoyed the overall arch of the story.

THE STORY:  In this third book in the trilogy about Nick and Avery, the two are apart after Avery finds out about Nick’s deceptions.  Yet these two damaged people are drawn back together just as Avery is beginning to rebuild her life. Now there are even more secrets from the past that come back.  All must be resolved if these two have any possibility of moving forward.

OPINION:  This was a good ending to the series, but honestly, by the time these two get back together, I think I had had enough of their drama.  After all the drama and “betrayal” and anger that keeps the two apart for a year, they seem to get back together without much having been done.

I’m wondering if this series would feel better for me if I re-read it all at once.  Knowing that the cliffhangers between the books will happen, knowing that Nick and Avery will have a angsty, drama-filled, off and on, hot and cold relationship, I might like the entirety of the drama better.  I think the wait between the segments tired me somewhat of the drama (although I’m usually a great fan of angst filled, over the top stories).  For some reason, little things bugged me in this story.  “Enough already” I said a couple of times.  I don’t believe you are really going to stay away and I don’t really understand why a year had to pass before the action picks up here.

I liked so much of this story overall, but those little things just kept itching me, until I found that it was good, but not great.  I think the last half of this book is better than the first half, but one thing that kept bothering me is that it seemed that Avery becomes demanding that everything be done her way.  In some ways, it felt like Nick wasn’t so much changed as neutered in parts of this book as he desperately tries to do what he can to hang onto Avery.  I do like men who have done wrong to grovel, but I still want them to be the strong, dominate men they are.  Just something about the formulation here bothered me.

WORTH MENTIONING:  This book has discussions of sexual abuse.

CONNECTED BOOKS:  For 100 Reasons is the third and final book in the 100 Reasons Trilogy.  This book should only be read as part of the trilogy since the books follow the relationship of one couple and thus depend upon the information in the prior books.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.

“At times in these past few months we’ve been together, I’ve wondered if there are other scars he doesn’t allow me to see. I know there must be, because the broken parts of me recognize the fractures in him, even if he hasn’t permitted me close enough to touch them yet.”

FINAL DECISION:  A middle book that, for me, exceeded the first book in the series. Avery and Nick are navigating their broken parts in this series.  As Avery’s demons recede in this book, we are given an introduction to Nick’s secrets that end in a cliffhanger revelation.

THE STORY:  In the first book in the series FOR 100 DAYS, Avery Ross, struggling artist, agrees to apartment sit in a luxury apartment building.  There, she meets Dominic Baine, billionaire. The two begin a relationship although Avery is keeping secrets.  She allows Nick to believe that she is wealthy as well; Avery also is hiding the fact that her mother is in jail for killing her husband who raped Avery when she was sixteen.  After Avery’s secrets are revealed in FOR 100 DAYS, Nick demands that Avery give into him with complete trust for 100 Nights.  And thus this book begins. The two are now living together and Avery and Nick are drawing closer together although both still have secrets.

OPINION: I would like to get a preliminary matter out of the way.  This book is part of a trilogy which is about the same couple. I don’t take complaints about this fact seriously. Adrian is certainly allowed to construct her story in that manner.  There is nothing hidden about the construction of this story so potential readers should know what to expect.

This book picks up right where the prior book ends. Nick and Avery are engaged in a relationship and are now living together. Avery continues to have secrets from Nick. As the book proceeds, Avery gains in confidence and strength as a woman as this book continues until the revelation at the end.  She is now strong enough to be her own person.

In this book Nick becomes more concrete as a person and less mysterious.. His secrets begin to be unraveled as Avery draws closer to him and his world. This book humanizes him as he begins to reveal his emotional attachment to Avery and as his past is disclosed. In the first book, Nick appears as the stereotypical romantic billionaire with a dark and mysterious past, but in this book he truly gains his humanity as the story moves towards its conclusion.

This book continues the intense, sexy relationship between Nick and Avery but the story contains a sense of drama and plot moving forward. This book ended far too soon for me and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

If the first book of the series was about Avery and her problems, this book ends that arc and begins an exploration of Nick’s past.  It constitutes the connection between these characters and I expect that the final book in this trilogy will finally expose Nick’s secrets.

I liked this book better than the first in the series because I did feel that this book developed these characters further and because I can now see the outlines of where this story is going. My only reservation is that I have been burned before by these romance in various parts stories. I reserve the right to downgrade all these books if the ending is bad.  Because each of these books depends upon the other, each book is not complete in and of itself, no matter how much I liked the first two books, if it doesn’t end well, I will not be satisfied with what I have read so far.

WORTH MENTIONING:  This book ends on the cliffhanger as the book is part of a trilogy.

CONNECTED BOOKS:  FOR 100 NIGHTS is the second book in the 100 trilogy about Avery and Nick.  The trilogy is all about their relationship and thus the books should be read together and in order.

STAR RATING:  I give this book 4.5 stars.