Title: Coming Home
Author:  Lydia Michaels
Publisher/Year:  Penguin USA 1/21/14
Length: 300 Pages
Series: The Surrender Trilogy #3

Overview

The conclusion of the savage, sensual Surrender trilogy in which betrayal, pain, and vengeance threaten to destroy a passion between two damaged souls…

Evelyn “Scout” Keats thought she finally found her long-sought happiness in billionaire Lucian Patras. But even though Lucian has always treated her like a queen, she has discovered she is nothing more than a pawn in his own secret game.

Worse, her long-time friend and supposed shining knight, Parker Hughes has also used her for his own interests by playing a part in Lucian’s game. Everyone’s honor is suspect, and no one can be trusted. It is Scout’s worst nightmare come to life.

As she struggles to comprehend the cost of a broken heart and the value of love, she must choose, once and for all, how much her pride can endure—and how much she is willing to risk to be truly happy

My Thoughts

I have to say that i really enjoyed where this story went, and what i was expecting to be the case for some of the issues, actually wasn’t the case at all.  nicely done Ms. Michaels, Nicely done.

We re-join this ill working love triangle just as Evelyn has run away from both Parker and Lucien, after learning of the deal that was struck – making her in a sense a possession and breaking her trust.  From this point forward, Evelyn decides that she needs to be solely on her own, yet it’s not so easy.  while she has been able to put Parker in the back of her mind, her hatred for him being something that she can hold on to, she can’t quite let go of Lucien.  While she’s incredibly upset with him, she also loves him and isn’t able to move past it.

She has a plan though how she can forge a new path for herself.  not only does she have her job, but she wants to better herself, and this takes money.  She goes to Lucien to get a loan, hoping that he will be able to do that for her, without pulling her back in, but of course things aren’t so cut and dry.

We know that Lucien is barely surviving without her, and he’s more than ecstatic when she comes to him.  While he knows that it’s not going to be easy to get her back, he’s very persistent, and does what he can to keep some sort of attachment.

It’s only when Evenlyn is able to use the money that she got to get her own apartment that things turn worse to a point where Lucien really re-enters the picture.  On the 2nd night that she’s in her new place, she’s on her way home and crosses paths with some less than savory folks.  because of the ensuing fight, her information ends up in the papers, and Lucien finds her and isn’t very pleased.  He feels like he needs to protect her, and well, this is really the turning point for them.  It’s not all smooth sailing though from that point since she’s not ready to really let him back in.  it’s all at arms length.

One day while at work, she sees a tabloid with a picture of him and another woman and that sets her off.  She manages to attend the same function as him with another guy so that she can not only get a better sense of what’s going on with Lucien, but also to make him jealous.  it works.  This is the true turning point for things.  but never an easy task.

Just when things start to look up, rumors and information about Evenlyn is leaked to the press, Lucien feels he has to protect her even more, and the question becomes who’s behind it.  not only that, while Scout has the issue of her past haunting them, someone’s trying to mess with Lucien’s business and they have to sort out who that is.

So, as you can see, we have a very complex finale here, with a lot of passion in terms of love hate, love some more and hate some more.  Forgiveness among friends and family….perhaps, but maybe not….and then the concerns and questions for the future.

Lucien wants more than Evenlyn is still willing to give and it’s an underlying theme throughout on how much she’s going to give up, and what the sacrifice means.  There’s also a mystery of a secret that Evenlyn is keeping and that’s a bone of contention with Lucien.  there’s also the question of what will come of Pearl – whom we know is still in a rehab facility unhappily.  Will Lucien continue to pay, will she stay at rehab, will Evelyn and her form a better relationship?

There’s more role-playing in this final installment which is always entertaining, and quite a bit of passion as feelings are rekindled.  All in all, a nice conclusion.  I’m still surprised about some of the things that happened, and where the story took them, but overall, i think that it was nice…and the epilogue was sweet as well.  Not taking the story in the expected place  which is great, all the while, ending the story as it needed to be.