The Summer Children

Her books are amazing. Great and painful read. The first book will always have my heart. Looking forward to the next, I bought it today on Amazon ❤️❤️. She’s a phenomenal author and I love Mercedes.

very good. I would have given it 5 stars but it isn't my favorite in the series. it really tired together the story of the agents and Ramirez's past, while still having a great storyline.

This one is sad... and pretty dark... but it is the best of the series so far. Never going to look at teddy bears the same again

This was not only an amazing addition to The Collector series but it works well as a standalone (as do the other books in the series). As usual, the plot kept me captivated, and was a perfect mix of suspense, action, drama, and comedy without being too predictable. It could give closure to the series yet one could still envision additions coming. While some may find the topic more than a bit crass (profiting from a social injustice) and "bandwagon"ish due to the nature of the content in reference to LGBTQ+ and also child abuse, I think it can be viewed in a way that instead says the author possibly brings awareness to difficulties surrounding aftermath of abuse (mental health) and also the mental and relationship strain that comes with being in law enforcement (no matter your gender or sexual preferences). I personally enjoyed the growth of the main character throughout. As someone who suffered childhood trauma due to sexual abuse, I will warn others that some content may be "triggering". While I felt a connection to some characters, everyones life experiences are different and some people may find parts of the book hard to read.

Following agent Mercedes Rameriez, we get to learn about her past traumas and how it has drove her to do what she does. I love the found family and growth in characters throughout this series so far. When Mercedes home becomes the drop off point for children whose parents have been murdered, we find our team racing against the clock to figure out who is behind these vigilante style murders before they strike again. This case has Mercedes questioning if the FBI is really where she should be.

Loved the plot and the Mercedes backstory. However, too many elements muddy my ability to stay involved in the story. Too many minor, undeveloped characters to keep track of. Holmes, Watts, Kearney, and I'm still not exactly sure what Nancy did. Someone lived there hours awa day but I don't know why that's important. Holmes and Watts could have been the same person and I wouldn't have noticed. I know that realistically, interagency cooperation necessitates that many people, but for me it was distracting. Also, sometimes Vic's mom is doing something, sometimes it's his wife. I think there is an editing mistake in there where the main character says mom but meant wife. A lot of major plot points seemed to happen quickly, then we spend the next several pages talking about where Mercedes is sleeping and what she is eating. It seems like a great portion of the book was spent on insignificant details that don't add to the story. Another distracting thing was the cars. There were a few bits where there were serious conversations about who was taking whose car and how the car was getting back, etc. Again, realistic, but distracting. I also think the end was a little drawn out and the main climax was, well, anticlimactic. For me, the most surprising thing was what happened after a fire, but that was only about midway through the book. For people complaining about Eddison, Sterling, and Mercedes and the junior high vibes and sleepover weirdness...sorry, guys, but they're millennials. That's just not weird to us. I do like Dot Hutchinson, and I'll read the next one, but I do hope her publishers give her more time to finish the next one because this one seemed rushed. With more time she could have strengthened a lot of it and eliminated some of the unnecessary fluff.

Book #3 In the Collector series.. hands down the best one so far! I loved the way all the Characters from The butterfly book 1 were incorporated into the last 2 but the way the writing puts all the characters and their life stories so entwined in a way that's interesting and makes it a great Read and keeps you wanting to read more!

I am truly loving this collection. You could read one without the others but I would highly recommend all the books in the collection. Dot Hutchinson does a great job keeping your interest up with great story lines.