Review Of Man I Need

I have mixed feelings towards this book and the series as a whole. This was certainly not a bad book but there no 'novelty' factor to it and it was straightforward and smooth? It was too predictable that took away bits of the reading fun and there was lack of some serious drama. The content and the story had a lot of potential and if the author had wished she could definitely have pressed more buttons and crossed the limits more maybe and upped the stakes? But the lack of that somehow made the book fall flat.

I get that this book is solely focused on Gabby and how she gets out of the abusive relationship with her husband and fights for herself, but it lacked depth and tense moments. It was a book dedicated solely to her growth as a character and her freedom towards independence.Marcel just helped her through it and very conveniently became her love interest and with him by her side to always protect her, everything fell into place a little too smooth for my liking. Somehow I felt that there was a lack of romance too. There were plenty of well written sex scenes between the two but did it really contribute towards their love story and romance? No..it seems forced, like they were added just to make it feel like a love story. And I had a very big problem with Kyle's character. I mean, he was given a back story so he wasn't completely one dimensional but it was just left hanging and also felt forced to the plot. Kyle barely posed a threat and was reduced to being an 'asshole' who keeps throwing idle threats without ever backing his own words. I still don't understand if he ever loved Gabby in his own obsessive psychotic way or he was just being an abusive husband. His character was least explored and disposed off rather easily. Rest of the story...just happens. Slow and steady as she picks up her life again. There were some moments that are nice but nothing particularly stands out. And the whole Marcel's 'secret' was also unnecessary as it didn't contribute whatsoever to the story and so is Lucy's character. I can see growth in Gabby but what about Marcel? He might have not needed character growth but some form of change would have been nice to witness but that was also absent. Over all it was a nice closure to their story but having had high expectations I really felt let down with this sequel.