“This has the potential to end badly. But if there’s one thing I know in this situation, it’s James. Talk to a guy long enough, go through enough shit with him, be there for enough significant moments in his life, and there are stories he will tell you, things he will confide that he wouldn’t tell a stranger. He’ll tell you about the first time he saw the bruises, really saw them, and knew he had to leave. He’ll tell you about living under someone’s control, helpless, hopeless, and then finding real freedom, and how he’d rather die than live through that again.
This isn’t covered in the sidekick handbook. You don’t expect this when you sign on. […] A Coyote doesn’t expect to be anyone’s confidante, not anyone we’re not working an angle on.”

– Community Service, Vaughn R. Demont (Broken Mirrors #3) 

It’s hard to articulate my feelings about this book. I loved Coyote’s Creed and a good chunk of its successor, Lightning Rod. Then something happened towards the end of Lightning Rod that made me want to scream and haul the book across the room. It was the author pulling the rug from under the reader in the worst way. It made me cry like a little child, and I was not happy to find myself doing that when it seemed the book was heading to a beautiful, romantic, compelling HEA. I was also annoyed with how Spencer was depicted in that book, though I cannot remember why.

I debated whether I even wanted to read the third book in the series, and hesitantly picked it up as it was on sale. I finished this book in about two days, so I cannot say I did not enjoy it. Except I don’t think I did. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened, even as I wasn’t enjoying what was happening. I really don’t like the direction the story(/series) is taking. The character of Ozzie and his relationship with James felt shallow and happened too quickly, too conveniently. I hated how Rourke wasn’t in Lightning Rod and was just kicked to the curb in this book. And after how quickly Spencer and Rourke’s relationship started I was hoping that  things would slow down- but the brief scenes between them felt rushed and showed nothing new. I was really hoping that Spencer would have matured and their relationship would have grown, and yeah, I am really disappointed it did not. But Spencer is maturing into a character I love even more than I already did in this book, and so I’ll keep reading to see what happens to him. See if he ends up with Rourke (as he should cos yeah, I’ll go down with my ship) And I still really love this authors writing style. There were a few annoying moments here but damn, those moments where it becomes so beautiful and magical still get me. I especially loved the way that James’ memories were written, in such a dreamlike, innocent way, as if from a child, but with a hidden sense of danger. There was almost a story book quality to them. I almost found myself reading through them again in search of the hidden message.