This book was all over the place and not in the fun, over-the-top romance book way. I thought this book did a bad job making us care about the characters or their relationship and all of the conflicts felt completely unrealistic or even high stakes even though it should have felt very high stakes. I read this because I really enjoy Bates' Hell's Ankhor series but this was just not for me.

Our main characters are Seb and Derek. Seb is a recent graduate in computer science who is having a hard time finding a job. Derek is an emergency room doctor. There were some immediate weird things about their characterization. Seb is a computer science major, which is a thriving field, but for some reason no one will hire him. With Derek, a nurse talks about how he should be trying to move into surgery and out of the emergency department but that's not how medicine works. you're trained in a specialty and if you switch you have to start that training all over for the new field, you can't just change whenever you want. He is also described as having a PhD, not an MD. Derek is a medical doctor, an MD. He would not have a PhD. These sort of details made the whole book seem even more unrealistic and like it was poorly researched.

I also had a really hard time connecting to the characters or believing their relationship. It's clear that Seb and Derek are attracted to each other right away but it didn't seem liked the relationship every really developed beyond that. I never felt like they had any reason to fall in love because they never learned anything about each other and we didn't really get to learn much about them as readers. Seb was also a character type that I really don't like. He was the type that never wants to ask for help and withholds important information all the time. He talked so much about how he wasn't a boy and how he was a grownup but he acted so immature. Whenever any one got mad at him (for valid reasons!) he acted like they had no reason to be mad at him. Because this was the only trait we really saw from him, he ends up being an unlikable character and I just don't know what Derek would see in him.

The plot of this book was also a little ridiculous. All of the conflicts just seemed so out their but then they were solved super easily and very serious situations are treated as if they were nothing. It is well established that Seb is a computer science major but it takes everyone so long to realize the he might help with a tech problem. It made the supposedly serious situation seem silly and made it hard to actually feel any suspense.

I really enjoy Bates' other series that I've read and the plot synopsis for this seemed interesting but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. It seems like a lot of people liked this book but this will not be a series that I'll be continuing. ( )

I liked the chemistry between the characters and I liked the “idea” of the brothers. None of them are related by blood but all are joined forever in their hearts by their pasts…all having past through the foster system with only one another to depend on and all having made successes of their lives. Derek build the Vanguard Towers as a home place that they would all feel the comfort and love of, and could return to no matter where their individual jobs might take them. It was a good introduction to a new series and was also in the mountain of books I received from my two good friends. I found book #2 in the box so have the next brother’s story. The book features same sex characters and the sex scenes are graphic…so it’s not a story for everyone. ( )