Leftie aka Closet Romance Reader

Considering the love-hate relationship I have with the first 2 books, the fact that I continued to read this last one is a testament to Ms. Malpas' writing, where I'm concerned.

Keeping this thought process along the same line as the other 2 books, let's see... Editing? Waaaay better. Ava, the h? Still neurotic, still don't like her. Jesse, the H? Still OTT but now has gotten just swoon-alicious, in a lovable alpha jerk way, for me anyway:p. Gratuitous sex? Not so much anymore, fortunately. Jesse berating Ava for swearing while he swears like a sailor himself? Not so much anymore either, fortunately. Could it have been shorter? Again, yes, but I didn't mind it as much this time around, maybe because I know it's the last in the series so it's the ending.

This book...

~had me feeling definitely frustrated at times losing count the number of times I made a fist gesture in the air;
~had me swooning for Jesse, for the most romantic lines I've read in a long while;
~had me screaming at Ava up until the last 60 pages, didn't get her for the most part, real REAL shame that Ms. Malpas didn't create a better h;
~had me rolling my eyes when it was showing that the characters were (still) barely growing;
~had me feeling hopeful to see their relationship starting to grow a little at least even though it was the most co-dependent relationship I've read in a romance novel in a while yet it worked perfectly for this couple (sigh);
~had me shaking my head at all the drama, there were soooo many, just too much;
~then back again to being frustrated because certain things I thought could have been said sooner rather than later (as in practically the ending) to make me better understand people's motivation, umm, like the lieS of omission on Jesse's part;
~and finally, had me nodding my head when things finally worked out and just wanting to hug Jesse & Ava (yes, even her, albeit begrudgingly) for what they've gone thru and managing to get thru it.

So now in my mind, how do I rate this book?

1.5*
-if it was just about Ava (really sorry but most of my frustrations in this book were because of her and I really did try to understand her but didn't for the most part).
4.5*
-if it was just about Jesse (it would have been higher if we're only talking about the romantic lines that were coming out of his mouth... Oh Jesse, Jesse).
2.0*
-for the weak h which just made me too tolerant of the H even though he's done jerk-y things to her; don't think that's fair especially when you give the best lines to the H already.
5.0*
-or higher, just for the mere fact alone that Ms. Malpas put me thru so much emotions with this book and still got me sticking it out right til the end, which for me means that she writes well. And yes, I can see myself reading future stories from her.

Final rating: 3*
Again, considering the love-hate relationship I have with all 3 books now, and making me feel all over the place, taking the middle road once more for what it's worth.