Title: Tell Me To Stay
Author:  Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 10/01/19
Length:  166 Pages
Series: Tell Me #3

Overview

I am not a liar or a thief or a criminal. At least, not anymore. But here I am doing the things that I promised myself I would never do again.

Nicholas Crawford made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He is dangerous and damaged but so am I. Our relationship is an addiction that we have to feed.

Now, things are about to get even more complicated.

Allegiances will be tested. Lies will be told. Truths will be revealed.

We have both made promises that we can’t keep. The secrets we have uncovered only scratch the surface, and I’m afraid to find out what lies below.

All is not what it seems but I have to figure out the truth before it’s too late.

My Thoughts

Where this series edged on Romance, now it’s more of a crime story – of sorts. There’s the element and undertone of sex, between Olive and Nicholas, but at the same time there are sexy times that you can’t even begin to imagine (who am I kidding of COURSE you have imagined them) coming on up!

In this third installment we have more questions than answers yet again. We watch the Relationship with Nicholas and Olive take a new turn, they get to that next level, yet there’s still always the notion of ‘the deal is off’ or ‘we’re done’ or ‘I don’t trust you’ lurking. At the same time, the relationship between Olive and Owen changes – we know that he’s been in jail for ten years, is up for parole and needs Olive’s help to testify on his behalf to get out. There are interesting circumstances that make this parole hearing happen and even more interesting circumstances that occur after the fact as well.

Olive’s given information from so many different directions about the people in her life. The prosecutor spills the tea about what Owen was into his whole life that Olive never knew. Nicholas shares a bit of information when Olive digs and on the flip side, Owen continues to share his opinion on Nicholas and his past. So you know that there’s no right side of the coin for her!

We know that cons and scams must continue to happen because we’ve learned that Nicholas is living beyond his means and cannot pay Olive the million dollars without doing the jobs. There’s also another guiding force behind the cons too – we know that Nicholas has been forced to work with the FBI because they have a file on him, so that means he’s never going to be free. Olive doesn’t know this yet.

Throughout this third story, we spend much of it wondering when the other shoe is going to drop and what’s going to happen. We know that Nicholas has to befriend Owen to do his job but that’s NEVER going to happen. We also know that Olive continues to want the best for everyone and wants Owen to be ok with her life choices and move on with his freedom, yet we quickly learn that there’s no freedom even for him.

There’s an interesting fun fact that Olive learns about herself in the end and it’s all because of something that Owen says to her, and that means that book four will be even more insane. I mean, there’s another level entirely being introduced to things and I wonder what that means.

There’s one more thing to mention – remember how Olive’s best friend and roommate Syndey met a guy James in HI and decided to stay there? Well, parting words of this book – ‘she’s back’. We don’t know why and we don’t know what it means for the story – so you know that it means I have to get book four and read on. Enjoy!