This is the second in the author’s Enemy Club series about four women from a small university town who were enemies in high school, but are now the best of friends. I liked the basic setup of the group and am a sucker for romances set in university towns. But I have major issues with the heroine, feel there are too many plot threads, and can’t recommend this.

Two years ago when Nina Stokes’ brother Walt died in Afghanistan, the military provided her with no details about his injuries or death. Her brother’s final letter to Nina left her with even more questions. Walt asked Nina to make certain that one of his army buddies – Mick Rivers – got his house. Nina waited two years for Mick to appear. Finally, Nina settles into her brother’s house. Her peace is threatened when Mick finally shows up.

Mick plans to sell Walt’s house as soon as possible, use the money for a family crisis, and get out of town. But Nina has other plans. She refuses to turn it over to Mick, and questions how he convinced her brother to give it to him. Despite this, within hours of meeting, Nina invites Mick to stay in the house with her, hoping to get answers from him about her brother’s death.

A lot of the plot just didn’t make sense to me. Mick won’t tell Nina why he waited two years to claim the house when a simple explanation would have gone a long way to easing her doubts. But I had even bigger problems with Nina’s actions.

I get that Nina’s supposed to be a “free spirit” – after all, she’s a former yoga instructor turned artist. But many of her behaviors are just idiotic. She recently lost all her money to a con artist. Despite this, and the fact that she thinks Mick is a con artist, she invites him to live with her. Seriously, what sane woman would invite a complete stranger – one she thinks is a con artist – to move in with her?

I liked Mick more than Nina. He’s definitely a wounded hero, dealing with a lousy childhood, the horrors he faced while in Afghanistan, and a current family crisis. He also has a soft heart and really doesn’t want to hurt Nina. .

For much of the book I didn’t feel a strong romance between Mick and Nina. Sure, they had sex a number of times, but honestly, I could have done with more genuine dialog and less sex. There were a lot of different plot threads that distracted from their relationship. While a few were interesting – in particular, Mick’s efforts to help a teenager whose brother was killed in the war – all combined they were too much.

Nina and Mick each had some real issues to deal with, and at times I was interested in their stories. With more focus on Nina and Mick, and some pruning of subplots, I would have enjoyed it more. Perhaps readers who liked the first in the series will enjoy this more than I did. I don’t see myself paying another visit to the Enemy Club.