A review by lisa_michelle3
The Cornerstone by Kate Canterbary

3.0

This has been my favorite book in the series and I honestly didn't expect that. I mostly saw Shannon as a HBIC cliche and wasn't especially looking forward to her book, yet this is the first in the series where I liked both MCs throughout. Shannon and Will felt real. The barriers in their relationship were real; Will being away and the threat of harm are authentic struggles, and Shannon caring for everyone but herself was so relatable. They didn't fight their feelings for each other at every turn or try to deny them. Shannon had lines that Will couldn't cross, but she was otherwise receptive and open to him, allowing mutual trust and affection to build. Even when she did try to end things, it wasn't because she was running from Will, but because something major happened within her family and she defaulted to being the caretaker. Their roadblocks just felt the least contrived of all the books thus far.

Now, the reason why my rating isn't higher: I didn't see a content warning for the history of assault, and I did not see it coming. I'm not sure why that needed to be included; Shannon already had so much trauma to overcome without it. I'm just glad it was mentioned sparingly or I would've had to DNF.