Although this book started 5 months after the second book, there is a backstory leading up to the events the book started with and ends with a cliffhanger, after the first day of competition. In my experience, the 3 book in a series is rather dull, Not so with this series!! The author keeps u rooting for the characters right up to the last page. Hopefully book 4 will continue with the same trend. l'm looking forward to it and completing this series.