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At first, I felt sorry for him. His yelling wasn't good, but I was able to reason that it was out of fear for Cynthia's safety given the circumstances. However, Mercer goes out of her way to portray him as pathetic and desperate to such an extent that he feels more like a plot device than an actual person. Moreover, he and Sky tend to do the same things but somehow it's worse with him? I don't understand it.

briellejee wrote: ↑13 Jun 2019, 09:05

cpru68 wrote: ↑13 Jun 2019, 08:00 Basically, Cynthia immaturely cheats on Dan and does the whole cover up thing, Dan wasn’t the problem because he really was portrayed as a nobody. Cynthia, she is the one that has major issues and is not likable for me.

I agree with this. I can't actually believe why Cynthia was hogging all the spotlight when she's not written well and flawed in all senses than Dan. I didn't like her from the start and seems like I was right.

The thing I don't get is this. She didn't just stand him up. In a time of upheaval, she basically disappeared and didn't even bother to check with him until the next day even though he'd sent that warning and tried to justify her cheating on him after. Like, he completely went overboard with the yelling, but it was easy to understand that his anger came from fear, or was supposed to. It made Cynthia look unsympathetic and unlikeable from the start and really didn't make her worth the attentions he got.

I think there are many men who don't know what they've got, and then when it's gone, they can't hold themselves accountable for any responsibility. It was sad watching him go to the lengths he went to because he thought what they had was right, and that he wanted it back so badly. His grip on the reality of their relationship was quite off, and for her to accept him as a dear friend was possibly quite dangerous (though I don't think she was capable of seeing that).

Orithea wrote: ↑11 Jun 2019, 17:56 This might be slightly off tangent but the first thing that felt weird for me about Dan’s character in general was the language he used in his messages to Cynthia. As a sergeant, I expect him to be generally serious and grounded (even boringly so) and write messages that sound like that. Not something like “Anser, Pleez!” or “OMG What hapend?” that sound like someone still in high school (seriously, smartphones have auto correct nowadays, so is he getting those words wrong on purpose?)
For me, this kind of language is okay with Cynthia’s character, but not ostensibly upstanding Sergeant Dan.
This is definitely not a major issue but just one of the little things that did not make Dan’s character feel believable to me.

Same here. Reading those texts annoyed me. It didn't really go well with his character. Well, most of the characters are not well-written so this is not surprising. However, compared to Cynthia and Sky, Dan is good enough.

Orithea wrote: ↑11 Jun 2019, 17:56 This might be slightly off tangent but the first thing that felt weird for me about Dan’s character in general was the language he used in his messages to Cynthia. As a sergeant, I expect him to be generally serious and grounded (even boringly so) and write messages that sound like that. Not something like “Anser, Pleez!” or “OMG What hapend?” that sound like someone still in high school (seriously, smartphones have auto correct nowadays, so is he getting those words wrong on purpose?)
For me, this kind of language is okay with Cynthia’s character, but not ostensibly upstanding Sergeant Dan.
This is definitely not a major issue but just one of the little things that did not make Dan’s character feel believable to me.

I was also thrown off by this. It made him seem so immature, especially with his hasty breakup instead of rationally talking things out with Cynthia. I think he could better have shown his concern for her by calmly talking things through instead of blowing up and leaving her. I didn't like that Cynthia cheated on him but it seems like neither of them was willing to work on the relationship and neither one seemed overly committed to it (except for the silly text messages and the "ILUVDAN" plates). His actions just seemed out of character for a level-headed police officer. I would have expected both Cynthia and Dan to have better communication skills because they were both high level professionals in their fields.

I feel like he wasn't in enough of the book to get a good feel for him. When he was there, he wasn't more than a plot device. He was supposed to be the opposite of Sky, a foil character of sorts, but other than that he wasn't important or convincing.

I feel that Dan is a spoiled brat. I feel that he only sees or thinks about what he wants and not the effect or how others feel.

It seemed that Cynthia and Dan had a relationship in a previous book that was carried over to this one. I felt that Cynthia was already over him and ready to move on, but Dan didn't get the memo! I think Dan's name in the title is confusing. In this book, Cynthia kicked him to the curb and spent all her time with Sky.

In general, Dan's character was underdeveloped. He really did seem more like a fatherly figure to Cynthia when she stood him up on her date and too quickly decided to break things off without even trying to figure out what happened. From there he is barely mentioned except for their brief encounter where he figures out that Cynthia really only wants to be friends. Then, out of the blue he turns into this creepy stalker guy putting tracking devices in her car, even though he seemed so sweet when he came over to take care of her when she was sick. In general, he gave me the creeps, but I don't understand the logic behind his actions in the book. I wish he would have been developed more so I could understand the character.

Jlprince26 wrote: ↑06 Jun 2019, 17:06 At first I saw Dan as this strong, independent guy who teetered on the verge of being more like a father figure to Cynthia than a lover, now he's this sappy, lonely, desperate guy who can't get a girl. His character is flawed in so many ways to me. I immediately couldn't stand him when he yelled at Cynthia for missing their date, it wasn't that he yelled at her, it was the tone I could imagine. He acted like her father, not a concerned lover. Anyone else have an opinion on the guy?

I agree with you. He comes off as a loner masquerading as Cynthia's lover. His attitude and tone put me off and that never changed during the course of the book.

Other than when Dan yelled at Cynthia, I kind of liked him. He was solid and steady, or at least appeared to be, until it looked like he stalked Cynthia. That behavior felt all wrong for Dan's character, to the point I'm still expecting some grand reveal in some future installment that Sky put the tracker on Cynthia's car and made it look like Dan... Maybe it's because his name is in the title, but I really expected Dan and Cynthia to end up together.

mblmn_mortician wrote: ↑17 Jun 2019, 20:01 I think there are many men who don't know what they've got, and then when it's gone, they can't hold themselves accountable for any responsibility. It was sad watching him go to the lengths he went to because he thought what they had was right, and that he wanted it back so badly. His grip on the reality of their relationship was quite off, and for her to accept him as a dear friend was possibly quite dangerous (though I don't think she was capable of seeing that).

I agree with you on this one. Also, his character is very underdeveloped for me he was just an afterthought for the author a means to an end in this story. And you are on point with Cynthia not being able to comprehend the danger of their friendship but then again that just is something that I would expect of her character at least she is consistent.

I thought Dan's character was creepy. He was always popping up. He turned out to be a stalker

Dan just doesn't cut the mustard. Not his character. Not his conversation. Not his showing up when Cynthia is sick. Not bugging her car. I think the story would have worked better without Dan.

Dan kind of seemed like an after thought to me. And it was weird that he turned out to be the villain. Their whole relationship was like a sappy drama-filled high school fling, not a relationship between mature adults.