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I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review and here it is: 5 stars.

This is the first novel I've read by this author and I'm impressed--this is far from and so much more than what I expected from a book subtitled "a bad boy stepbrother romance", but first, let me state, as I have past reviews of novels in this sub-genre, that I find absolutely nothing taboo or forbidden about two adults raised as step-siblings falling in love with one another. It's neither illegal nor immoral, and who would possibly understand someone better and more thoroughly than someone raised in the same household by the same two parents. It's certainly a far a cry from incest, which is both illegal and immoral.

Off my soapbox and on to the story. Ric Ryker was a big kid, both in physical size (6'5") and weight, and, as such, he endured some hellish years in school because of it, teased and called "Big Dick". His stepsister, Annalesa, chose to hang with the popular, wealthy, stuck-up crowd, and as they grew into adulthood, Ric assumes that he'll someday run his his father's multinational armaments corporation, and Annalesa, plans to study art history in Paris, until Annalesa hears that the family plane has gone down, carrying Ric and their parents, and she realizes that the loss of Ric would break her--she's always cared for him deeply. When he shows up alive, telling her he wasn't on the plane, she kisses him and he kisses her back, but he's angry with her for always seeming to side against him, doing nothing to stop the teasing and taunting he's endured from her friends. When they learn that their parents are safe they get another shock, they are not only safe, they are separating. Annalesa's mother is taking her back to England, and the next morning when she goes to find Ric, he's already left the family home.

Fast forward four years, and Annalesa is just back in the U.S. after getting her degree in art history for a joint graduation party being held at what had been the family home in Maine. She's had no contact with Ric during that time, and he's never responded to any of her attempts to contact him. Thinking she's alone, she's surprised to find a huge, toned, muscle-bound, tattooed hunk working out in the family gym--and stunned when she finally realizes it's Ric. And so it begins, but Ms. Rollins doesn't just tidily wrap up this romance in a neat bow, and all is not as it seems. Ric, also attracted to Annalesa, doesn't trust her, or anyone else, and their road to romance is a bumpy ride.

Additionally, these two are of age for their trust funds to be turned over to them, and they're huge. Ric is being groomed to take the helm of his father's armaments company and Annalesa dreams of opening an art gallery in Paris. But there are others in the picture, and as their relationship progresses, there are many secrets to be revealed, hidden plots and a whole lot of suspenseful action to follow before this standalone novel reaches its conclusion, and the twists and turns make this novel almost impossible to put down.