Read my review of the previous book in the Beyond series, Beyond Time.
Even though the author didn’t give me quite the ending I might have wanted for the previous book in this series (but an excellent one nonetheless), they almost did something even better—they gave me a second book. I immediately jumped into this one, looking forward to seeing how a resolution for Clay and Jayce would come to fruition. As the next variations of reincarnated souls, I was definitely curious how they would connect with each other and how much they might remember in these new lives without the medical intervention of the previous book’s inciting incident.
This story is not a “fix it” for two characters who didn’t get their happily ever after. McCormick ensures that this story does its own heavy lifting and is able to stand on its own as a mobster/hitman dark romance. Removing the context of the first book and adding a bit of the “insta love” trope would complete this separation, but I had much more fun picking out the overt and subtle echoes that made the two stories interweave nicely. I’ve read plenty of other books in which the heroes go a little feral for each other even before love is involved, and the extra layer of the inevitability of soulmates deepens the story here rather than acts as a narrative shortcut. That these men will always be each other’s weaknesses also serves as an excellent thematic connection with the first book. The climax of the story hit me right in the feels in the way Clay and Jayce quietly decide to trust each other, in much the same way as in Beyond Time when the characters were more aware of their circumstances.
Reading this book is not necessary, with the first standing nicely on its own, but I’m so glad that I did. McCormick’s spin on the soulmates trope in this series is a refreshing take that makes the emotional connection the characters work for so much more satisfying than having something that is simply meant to be. I already look forward to where McCormick will take this context next within the broader scheme of the overarching plot.
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