However, since feeling something is what begrudgingly attracted Archer to Mac in the first place, his crankiness about the situation is more adorable than angst-ridden. (Perhaps there’s a tiny bit of some form of -pathy hanging out in Mac’s brain after all.) The lower-key power exchange between him and Archer evolves throughout the book from pure sex to pure passion as feelings enter the mix, despite Archer’s best intentions. Mac is familiar enough with how to deal with Archer’s particular flavor of neurodivergence since he’s the twin of a man with a related diagnosis and the son of the woman who literally wrote the book on how Thomas approached raising his children. In much the same way that facet of his adult character made Jericho his perfect match, James also creates Mac as the perfect foil for Archer-with a twist.Ī common joke about this series is how the Mulvaney boys seem to imprint on their partners like psychotic penguins, but I’d argue that the reverse happens here. The fact that I know James didn’t have every detail of all of her characters planned out from the very beginning just makes her creativity and storytelling even more mind-blowing for example, putting together the pieces about August and Archer as children goes a long way toward explaining the shift in Thomas that resulted in Atticus growing up so touch- and affection-starved.

He wears the persona of drunken pirate the same way Adam, Asa, and Avi are playboys, except he doesn’t drop this mask for his brothers. And it turns out that everything we thought we knew about him was wrong, even when we were technically correct. James doesn’t waste time setting up too much backstory with this book, either for the secret government project, the external plot regarding the threat on Mac’s life, or even the initial meeting between Mac and Archer that launches their professional partnership and personal dynamic.Īfter spending time with Aiden in the previous installment of this series, Archer remained the most mysterious Mulvaney brother. It should have been obvious that the larger-scale version of his epic plan is already in production this is just the first time we’re getting a chance to see it up close. After all, Thomas got what he wanted with his seven sons, who are all productive adults. Little did I know how much the world of the Mulvaneys was about to explode. I knew going in that this book would cross over with another series by the same author, and that it would also tease a planned future series. Every time I can’t possibly love this series more, James ups the ante on us again.

Lunatic onley james