Title: Black Contract
Author:  Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 9/22/18
Length:  180 Pages
Series: Black Edge #4

Overview

They can take everything from me, but they can’t take her.

Mr. Black is coming back. With a vengeance.

“I need you to sign a contract.”

“What kind of contract?”

“A contract that will make you mine.”

This time she’s going to do everything I say. 

She’s going to hate it and then she’s going to beg for more.

This is the game we play. It’s our game. 

But what happens when others find out? Will we lose everything?

My Thoughts

The summary implies that the biggest concern is what everyone else will think when they find out about what Ellie and Aiden do, but frankly, that’s not the issue at all is it? I mean, we saw the whole world figure out how they met, and what they do when someone leaded information to the press, so really that’s not the issue. It’s trust and broken hearts – that’s where they go awry.

We ended the last book with Aiden breaking Ellie’s heart because he couldn’t handle what was going on and blamed it on Ellie and while that’s not right, that was his reaction. Ellie sees him out at a club with another girl and draws conclusions and lucky for her, Aiden is persistent, and she gives him the benefit of the doubt.

That sets the tone for this next installment of the story. We watch them find a place where they can work back to what things once were. Aiden wants to jump right back into the engagement and Ellie uses the time to think about what things are going to look like in the future.

This story takes us on a healing journey of sorts- watching Caroline try to come to terms with what she went through, and at the same time, watch the evolution of life with Ellie. Ellie and Aiden are in a better place and we want to hope for the best, and at the same time, we get news that Ellie is pregnant and that means that life is happy yet uncertain all over again.

Highs and lows are the balance of the story. Aiden gets the good news that he’s back at Owl, and that means that there’s a bit more certainty out there. He and Ellie seem to be in an ok place and he’s even happy at the idea of a baby. Things crash again though. There’s a death that’s likely a suicide, there’s a case that’s going to get dropped, there’s a fight, a shooting and someone in a coma.

Aside from that – we get a nice supplement to this story in the form of Brie’s situation. Brie is Ellie’s step sister and she blows into Ellie’s life in the middle of all the nonsense. She’s not sure what she wants to do with her life and who she is frankly. And she’s gone to the one person that she feels like she can be honest with and have no judgement.

So, on that note, we end this story on another cliff. While one of our mains is in a coma after a shooting, the shooter is on the loose and we fear that they will never be brought to justice. The other main finds themself in a confrontation of sorts and we’re not sure how to get out of that situation unscathed. So…I guess we’re going to see how things net out in the fifth book. Hopefully there’s something happy to pull out of it all, but things are looking bleak. Enjoy!