Hail Mary

By Lani Lynn Vale

We have been teased as readers throughout the series by glimpses of Dante and bits and pieces of what and how he is the way he is, the distance he has kept from his family following the tragedy of the death of not only his wife and his two daughters but also the subsequent death of his sister.
And we have also been previously been made aware of in an earlier novel of the appearance of his daughter Mary, from a drunken liaison. I can’t say that it didn’t mean anything, I don’t get the impression that Dante does anything that he doesn’t want to do but he was in the depth of depression, riddled with guilt and grief, the comfort he found at the bottom of a bottle was only ever supplemented by the time he spent in the arms of a willing and fleeting partner, and that is just how he liked it. Dante may have been unaware of Mary’s existence until she was deposited on his doorstep but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about the little girl’s mother because when she needed help. Someone to be by her side and someone to promise her to not only care for Mary but to look out for her best friend Cobie when she was gone, it was Dante that she turned too, not the man that had tortured and tormented her for more time than any one person so evil should be allowed to breath.
Mary’s mother fought hard to not only protect her child (you learn why in the book) but to also survive a relationship that was so toxic it was deadly but it was the cruelest of diseases that too her life before she had the opportunity to experience the joy of parenthood.
So, could Dante live up to the promises he had made, well if nothing else he was going to do his utmost to try? I thought there was a more acidic tone to this book, neither Dante of Cobie was straightforward, both had issues that pushed buttons that the other found hard to deal with and in some respects, that made their connection more realistic. The section of the book that deals with how Cobie handles her health issues were beautifully written and with a real feeling for those that have themselves or that know someone who has already been through something similar.
The health issues that coursed through the book meant that the path to them being a couple was more deliberate, it had to dance to a different beat and in this case, I don’t think that this was a bad thing, they needed time to find their own solid ground because they couldn’t afford to make mistakes, not saying they got it all right because they certainly did not…Dante makes some epic howlers!
I will admit now that although I have been looking forward to getting to know Dante, this really wasn’t my favorite book in the series so far. Don’t get me wrong it is a great read but it had a little too much going on, I found it distracting at times and I especially found the situation with Drake and Dante toward the end of the book, slightly confusing. It took place over a number of months people. Really!!