Review of Inside Out (Brown Family #3) by Lauren Dane

Inside Out is the third book in the Brown Family series.

Ella Tipton is a survivor. After an attack from her ex nearly killed her, she's come back from a life lived in fear to a strong woman who's taken back her rightful place in the world. She might not be ready to dive back into dating, but it doesn't mean she can't ogle the hottie coming into the coffee shop daily.

Andrew "Cope" Copeland is an ex-cop and security professional who's jonesed after Ella for years. Over that time he's had women, never actually dating them, but all they've been is a fun distraction. His focus has been on waiting for Ella to be ready. 

Unable to stand being away from her, he offers something she needs to battle back that fear that still creeps up: self-defense lessons.

It's not long before romance worms its way in, and both find their world changed in ways they never imagined.

This is probably my favorite so far in the series. I have a weakness for stories about survivors finding happiness, and this certainly fit the bill.

Ella was stronger than she thought she was, and everyone around her saw it. Her friends were loyal and supportive, and her parents were loving. Andrew made her feel even stronger than she already was, and that made the story more tender.

Andrew's solid focus on Ella and how she made his life complete was sweet. As Ella says, he's a sweetheart with a bad boy wrapping. He'd already fallen for Ella long before he finally asked her out, and dove quickly into the realm of love. It was touching, tender, and sweet all at once. He was more layered than previous characters, which I very much enjoyed.

For a story with an alpha male, the strongest one was Ella, and I loved it.

Settings aren't Lauren Dane's strong suit, and this was no different. The cafe, Ella's apartment, and Andrew's house were fairly well written, which is better than in previous books. Descriptions of people were not great as well, and she seemed to rely on readers' memory of previous books for descriptions of characters.

Dialog was good, better than previous books, though there was a fair amount of cheese. It worked for Ella and Andrew, anyway.

As I said, this one is my favorite so far in the series, and I can't wait for the rest.

Photo Credit Witthaya Phonsawat via freedigitalphotos.net

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