This book definitely moved along better than the first. While the mystery is still the main part of the book, Adrien and Jake's budding relationship gets a lot of time as well.Two months after the events in the first book Adrien leaves LA to visit the ranch he inherited from his grandmother, in an attempt to clear his head and get away from his "relationship" with Jake. Their relationship seems to be more off than on, and Adrien views it as a tentative friendship that he fears will be gone with the slightest provocation. Jake is still seeing a woman, and is seemingly so loathing of his homosexual identity, still claiming he is going to marry a woman, but Adrien is falling for him.
When Adrien runs into trouble on the ranch Jake shows up to help him out. We spend a lot of time with them and see their relationship begin to evolve, but Jake's closeted status and denial of his nature keep them on shaky ground.
Their relationship is so intriguing. Even though Adrien knows where Jake stands, he can't help but fall for him. He says to himself that he will not miss out on other opportunities that present themselves, but when Kevin, a student working with a dig team on the property, makes advances towards him, we can see that he will be unable to do anything with Jake still around, although the same cannot be said for Jake.
