ARC Review: Crash Into You

Crash Into You
Katie McGarry
Contemporary Young Adult
Pushing the Limits/3
Harlequin Teen/November 26, 2013

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker - a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

What an emotional, wild ride Crash Into You proved to be!  It flew by at breakneck speed and I found myself trying to slow down towards the end because I didn't want it to be over.

Rachel Young may seem like perfection in a pretty dress but she is flawed, just like any other teen, trying to find her way and the direction she wants her life to take.  She has some serious obstacles to overcome, mainly her parents and their strict expectations for her.  When she meets Isaiah, Rachel is looking for an outlet for her rebellion in the form of street racing. She gets more than she bargained for and lucky for her, Isaiah is there to help her out.  It was so emotional, seeing Rachel attempt to live up to the unrealistic expectations her parents had placed on her.  She tries so hard to overcome her fears that I couldn't help but be angry at her parents for not seeing how much pressure and stress they put on her.  McGarry did well in bringing such strong emotions out in the the characters and this reader.

Isaiah Walker knows everyone thinks Rachel is out of his league.  She is not someone he would hang out with or date but he still has this overwhelming need to hang out with her and wants to date her.  I loved how Isaiah takes a huge leap of faith with his feeling for Rachel.  He could be setting himself up for a world of hurt but he takes that chance.  Isaiah is a hero you wish the best of everything for.  He has been through so much and still has a way to go but he doesn't give up.  The mom side of me wanted to give him a home where he would be wanted and loved.  The teenage girl in me would have taken Isaiah as a boyfriend in a heartbeat! He definitely left an impact on me.

The character development is well done not only for the main characters but with the secondary set.  Also, the pacing matched between the suspense, developing romance and the conflicts at home Rachel and Isaiah are dealing with.  The suspense and dangerous situations Rachel and Isaiah find themselves in are made believable because McGarry takes the time to create the framework of the situations.  I loved how nothing is glossed over - neither the brighter moments nor the darker hours. Within those tense situations are reminders that Rachel and Isaiah are teenagers who are facing circumstances not every teen must face.

Even if you don't usually read Young Adult, I encourage you to give Ms. McGarry's Pushing the Limits series a try.  It's more than Young Adult, it is exceptional story telling.

Rating: A

Pushing the Limits Series ~

Pushing the Limits
Crossing the Line (novella)
Dare You To
Crash Into You
Take Me On (May 20, 2014)

ARC Review: Hard As It Gets

Hard As It Gets
Laura Kaye
Romantic Suspense
Hard Ink Series/Book 1
Avon/November 26, 2013

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...

Never having read Ms. Kaye I wasn't sure what to expect so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the suspenseful romance of Becca and Nick (or Rixey as he is also referred to).

Becca Merritt is a very capable ER nurse.  She's use to stressful, tense situations but nothing has prepared her for her brother's kidnapping.  So she turns to Nick Rixey for help.  I liked Becca and how she was portrayed as an intelligent women with faults and flaws.  She makes some mistakes but it's realistic since her experiences have not prepared her for where she has found herself.  Even though Becca is worried, stressed and scared, she holds her own with the big bad Rixey.  He's actually not that bad, he just gives off that attitude.

Nicholas Rixey is still recovering from his injuries sustained during his last battle.  He has withdrawn from his friends, his military brothers and would probably withdraw from his brother Jeremy if Jeremy let him.  Instead they work and live together, Jeremy having taken Nick in when Nick was drifting after his release from the Army.  Rixey is a wounded warrior without a war to fight.  Becca gives him that fight and makes him want to do more than just exist.

There is mistrust at the beginning between Becca and Rixey.  She doesn't know him, only that he was one of her father's men.  He has reason to hate Becca's father and in the beginning, transfers his attitude towards Becca.  He quickly changes his mind when he admits to himself what he knew all along - Becca is not responsible for her father's actions. Rixey is written in a way that you get why he reacts and thinks the way he does.  He is far from perfect and is willing to ask for help, even if it means humbling himself.  I liked how he and Becca learn to trust each other as they are falling for each other.  If there had been no trust, the relationship would have felt hollow.  Instead, it felt real.

I think real is a good word to describe Hard As It Gets.  The action, romance and characters all feel real.  The secondary characters fulfill their roles without overwhelming the hero and heroine and the suspense.  There were a few periods of a little too much character introspective, throwing the pace off but not enough to dampen the enjoyment.  Can't wait to see what happens next!

Rating: A-

Hard Ink Series ~

Hard As It Gets
Hard As You Can (February 25, 2014)

TBR Challenge: The Navy SEAL's Bride

The Navy SEAL's Bride

Soraya Lane

Contemporary Romance

Harlequin/August 7, 2012

Ex-navy SEAL Tom Cartwright is struggling to return to civilian life. His little niece is his only ray of sunshine and he agrees to be the "show" in her school show-and-tell.  Teacher Caitlin Rose knows all about past disappointments—once, she danced in the spotlight but now she shows others how to. She's learned the hard way to rely only on herself. Yet as soon as Tom looks at her with those big brown eyes, she's done for….

Can Caitlin crack the walls around this soldier's battle-worn heart?

This year's challenge is off to a good start!  I totally flaked out on last year's challenge but not this year!  A big thanks to Wendy for once again hosting the challenge.

The suggested theme for January is short stories or novellas. Since I have an abundance of Harlequin romances on my TBR pile, that's where I searched out and found one of Ms. Lane's contemporary romances.

It's because of a little girl, Gabby, that Caitlin and Tom meet.  Gabby is Tom's niece and when Tom first sees Gabby's teacher Miss Caitlin Rose, he has a hard time keeping his eyes off of her.  For Caitlin, it's a similar reaction but she has a history with military men and it's not a good one.

The romance moves along quickly, with Caitlin and Tom acting on their mutual attraction.  Caitlin and Tom each have difficulties in their past to overcome.  Tom is learning to accept that he will never go out in the field again but will instead teach recruits.  He doesn't feel like he has anything long-term to offer to a woman. Caitlin thinks she can't trust a man with a military background.  Neither Caitlin or Tom showed much conflict or resistance when it came to overcoming their pasts.  I would have liked to see more conflict and resistance to dating each other since much emphasis was place on these two reasons.

Tom dated Caitlin, slept with her but was not willing to listen to her when she tried to sympathize with him about his loses.  It felt very unreasonable of Tom to brush Caitlin off so quickly, demeaning to a certain extent.  He became angry and scared Caitlin with his reaction to her trying to simply talk to him about his losses.  I didn't like this side of Tom and thought he overreacted.  Turned me off the hero.

There are some words and terms that sounded a bit off.  Since the author lives in New Zealand, perhaps the odd words and phrases are more specific to that region and why I'm not familiar with them.  Nothing really major but the hero is a U.S. Navy SEAL and it did cause me to pause a few times.

Rating:  C

Review: Dare You To

Dare You To
Katie McGarry
Contemporary Young Adult
Pushing the Limits/2
Harlequin Teen/May 28, 2013

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

After reading and loving Pushing the Limits, I was looking forward to the next in Ms. McGarry's emotionally charged Young Adult series.  While Dare You To didn't have as strong of an impact that Pushing the Limits had, it is still a worthwhile addition to the series.

It all started with a dare.  And while some things that start with a dare don't always end well, for Ryan and Beth, the dare was only the beginning of what would prove to be a very exciting, emotional roller coaster ride.

Beth Risk had to grow up too young and too fast.  In her relationship with her mother, Beth is the parental figure while her mother is irresponsible and immature.  Beth continues to keep her mother out of trouble but this places Beth in right trouble's path.  I couldn't help but feel sorry for Beth. Her attitude could use some adjusting but she uses her rebellious teen attitude as a shield to protect her from the world of disappointment she has experienced.

Ryan Stone is the all American teenager.  Good grades, lots of friends, baseball star - yes, he has it all.  But he wants something more, something different.  He is intelligent but hides it behind his jock persona.  Ryan is mature, willing to see beyond Beth's bad girl image to the real girl behind the attitude.  I liked how the conflict between Ryan's dreams and his father's dreams for him are shown and resolved.

For Beth and Ryan, the chance meeting that turns to friendship then romance, acts as a catalyst for major changes in each others' lives.  They are both able to see the potential in one another and provide encouragement towards reaching for something they each thought was unattainable.

Rating: B+

Pushing the Limits Series ~

Pushing the Limits
Crossing the Line (novella)
Dare You To
Crash Into You
Take Me On (May 20, 2014)

ARC Review: Santa, Bring My Baby Back

Santa, Bring My Baby Back
Cheryl Harper
Contemporary Romance
Rock'n'Rolla Hotel/Book 3
Avon Impulse
December 17, 2013

A bride abandoned at the altar . . . just in time for Christmas? 'Tis the season for second chances at Cheryl Harper's Elvis-themed Rock'n'Rolla Hotel.

After trying and failing at acting, modeling, dog grooming, and a dozen other jobs, Grace Andersen thought for sure she'd nail marrying a rich man. But dumped in a hotel chapel and strapped for cash, Grace needs a miracle—and a job.

If it were up to Charlie McMinn, Grace would be a married lady by now. Officiating weddings in gold lamé and a rock star pompadour may not have been his idea of getting into the holiday spirit, but with a gorgeous bride asking for his help, Charlie doesn't mind sticking around his mother's hotel a few more days. Especially if it means getting Grace settled …

Grace isn't sure what to think of sexy, rugged Charlie, except that she can't deny the attraction between them, or how good it feels to finally fit in somewhere. Is she ready to give a certain place—and a certain someone—a real chance? Or will she abandon a true Christmas miracle?

Cheryl Harper gives readers a sweet, quirky romance between a schedule loving hero and a no plans required heroine.  It's set against the backdrop of an Elvis themed resort hotel.  And while there are a number of Elvis sightings, the focus is on the developing romance of Grace and Charlie.

Charlie McMinn is happiest at his home in the woods, working his magic on increasing his and his mother's investments.  It's his mother Willodean, who draws him out of him seclusion and has him working at the resort.  Charlie doesn't like his time at the resort but he loves him mom and that's why he's willing to dress as Elvis.  Charlie's really a sweetheart under all that grumpiness and I enjoyed see through that grumpiness to the hero underneath.

It turns out being left at the alter is the best thing to happen to Grace Andersen in a long time.  She finds herself more or less stuck at the Rock'n'Rolla Hotel.  Grace does seem to land on her feet and this time is not different except for Charlie.  He makes all the difference between just another job and a new life.  Grace slides into her new role and new life at the hotel.  She also makes her way into Charlie's life and it was interesting to see how much these two seemingly different people have so much in common.

The hotel and resort has it's variety of eclectic residents.  They all add some spice to the story but my favorite is Willodean.  She is the voice of wisdom, reason and experience.  She is the driving force of the hotel and the people who live and work there.

Although Santa, Bring My Baby Back is considered a holiday romance, it's a fun read for any time of the year.

Rating: B

Rock'n'Rolla Hotel Series ~

Love Me Tender (novella in anthology Kiss Me)
Stuck on You
Can't Help Falling in Love
Santa, Bring My Baby Back

Audio Review: Red Country

Red Country
Joe Abercrombie
Narrator: Steven Pacey
Fantasy/Western
The First Law World
Orbit/October 18, 2012

They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following. 

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own. And out in the lawless Far Country the past never stays buried.

Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into an alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust...

Brilliant!  This was such a treasure to listen to.  Not only did Abercrombie do an amazing job creating a world of fantasy woven into a western-like setting but Pacey's narration truly brought it to life.

It it not necessary to have read the previous books set in the First Law World.  Red Country is written as a stand alone but it did make me want to grab up those previous books in the First Law World and discover how some of the characters fared in earlier installments.

The world Shy South lives in is a harsh world filled with hard work, numerous responsibilities and little enjoyment.  But Shy carries on with her life, if not truly happy, then perhaps nearly content.  All of that is about to change when her siblings are kidnapped.  We see how both Shy and Lamb shed their current roles as farmers and become hunters and killers. It is a violent world they journey into, as they reach back into their pasts to cope with the present.

The story is filled with a host of secondary characters who don't like being kept in the background.  As the plot progresses, an ensemble cast quickly forms to join with Shy and Lamb on their journey.   Abercrombie took the time to develop the secondary characters to give them not only backgrounds but make them standout in their own ways.  From the most powerful to the youngest, the characters' emotions and actions show how some of them must change and grow along with the story in order to survive.  While other characters remain the same to the last, staying true to how they have been portrayed.

The characters are not the only ones who are well developed.  The places Shy, Lamb and the others travel to are brought to life in Abercrombie's vivid descriptions of not just the buildings and harsh environments but the smells and sounds.  Those descriptions help the reader understand what the characters are feeling and thinking when they encounter these uncivilized settlements.  

Red Country is a magnificent blend of action and adventure.  The fight scenes are beautifully startling in their brutality.  But it is the characters that are the driving force in this adventure.  They pull you in and make you, if not like them, then at the very least earn your grudging respect.

Hat's off to Abercrombie for creating these fascinating characters and Pacey for giving them their voices!

Rating: A+

Review: Below

Below
Ryan Lockwood
Suspense/Action
Pinnacle/June 25, 2013

In all his years as a professional diver, Will Sturman has never encountered a killing machine more ferocious than the great white shark or as deadly as the piranha. Now, off the coast of California, something is rising from the deep--and multiplying. Voracious, unstoppable, and migrating north, an ungodly life form trailed by a gruesome wake of corpses. 

With the help of the brilliant and beautiful oceanographer Valerie Martell, Will finds himself in a race against time to stop the slaughter--by a predator capable of devastating the world's oceans.

Pray it kills you quickly.

A little diversity is good for the reading soul. That's why I decided to give Ryan Lockwood's Below a try.  It's a look into what lurks under the beautiful Pacific Ocean.  We all know that something as beautiful as the Pacific can also be very deadly.  Sharks are what usually come to mind when you think of something pulling you under the water and eating you alive.  Turns out, sharks are the least of our worries.

If you're looking for romance, look elsewhere.  While there's a little action between the sheets, it can easily be overlooked for the more important plot of what is devouring those foolish enough to swim in the ocean. Will Sturman, full-time diver and part-time drunk, teams up with Dr. Valerie Martell.  Martell is a research scientist who prefers spending her time below the water than above.  The main characters are developed with enough back story to give the reader insight into what drives them but the central focus is on the terror beneath the ocean.

The plot runs a pretty straight line.  I found myself predicting, with a high rate of accuracy, who would be the next meal for the "terror from below".  The story still proved to be entertaining and an escape from life's more mundane problems.  One thing I did like was the point of view of the "terror from below". I thought it gave the story a refreshing twist.

So not groundbreaking but a story with some action, suspense and a look at what lives Below.

Rating: C+

Review: Two of a Kind

Two of a Kind
Susan Mallery
Contemporary Romance
Fool's Gold/Book 11
Harlequin/June 25, 2013

Felicia Swift never dreamed she'd hear a deep, sexy voice from her past in tiny Fool's Gold, California. The last time Gideon Boylan whispered in her ear was half a world away...on the morning after the hottest night of her life. Her freaky smarts have limited her close friendships, and romance, but she came to Fool's Gold looking for ordinary. Gorgeous, brooding Gideon is anything but that.

Black Ops taught Gideon that love could be deadly. Now he pretends to fit in while keeping everyone at arm's length. Felicia wants more than he can give-a home, family, love-but she has a lot to learn about men...and Gideon needs to be the man to teach her.

As these two misfits discover that passion isn't the only thing they have in common, they just might figure out that two of a kind should never be split apart.

Welcome back to Fool's Gold where romance will find you whether you want it to or not.  It seems to be those who claim to not want a happily ever after are usually the people who need it most of all.  Such is the case for Gideon Boylan.

When Gideon Boylan moved to Fool's Gold he thought he could be a hermit, living alone and keeping mostly to himself with the occasional trip into town.   His friends, however, have other plans.  So they pull him out of his hermi-tude a little at a time.  When Gideon runs into Felicia, he's surprised and a little scared, not that he would admit it.  I liked Gideon's vulnerable side, how it reflected his past experiences which he also tried to hide.

Felicia Swift is a genuine genius.  She practically grew up on a college campus, raised by professors instead of parents.  Felicia hasn't let this stop her from wanting a more traditional life for herself, in fact it probably made her crave it that much more.  Felicia isn't easy to warm up to, she's full of facts and seems to have a hard time with emotions.  In a way, she's very childlike when it comes to relationships.  She says what she's thinking, not always realizing what the outcome might be.

Gideon and Felicia didn't come across as a good fit.  The attraction was strong but beyond that, it felt like they were basing their relationship on a one-night stand.  Gideon didn't want the same things out of life that Felicia did.  She wants to become part of the Fool's Gold community where Gideon wants very little contact with the population.  He would rather limit his contact to the air waves of the radio station he owns than participate in the various festivals the town is known for.

Fool's Gold is full of all types of people.  It's what makes it the type of place readers want to go back to again and again.  The problem that can occur with small town romances are those very people who make up the town.  They tend to encroach on the romance, taking time away from the hero and heroine that would be better spent showing the development of the relationship.

So not a bad romance but it simply didn't work on all levels for me.  It did however, leave me looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  So that's always a plus!

Rating: C+

Fool's Gold Series ~

Chasing Perfect
Almost Perfect
Sister of the Bride (novella in Summer Brides anthology)
Finding Perfect
Only Mine
Only Yours
Only His
Only Us (novella in Almost Summer anthology)
Summer Days
Summer Nights
All Summer Long
A Fool's Gold Christmas (novella)
Halfway There (novella)
Just One Kiss
Two of a Kind
Three Little Words
Christmas on 4th Street (novella)
When We Met (April 29, 2014)
Before We Kiss (May 27, 2014)
Until We Touch (June 24, 2014)
Yours For Christmas (September 30, 2014/novella)

Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes

Review: The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project
Graeme Simsion
Contemporary Romance
Simon & Schuster/October 1, 2013 
(First published, April 1, 2013)

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

When applying science to relationships there's always a strong possibility of a completely unforeseen outcome.  These are the results Professor Don Tillman discovers.  Don is an extremely intelligent person.  He's what you would call book smart with his street smarts lagging woefully behind.  He doesn't know how to interaction with others and has a hard time relating to most people.

Rosie is a breath of fresh, new air in Don's life.  She breaks down his preconceptions of what traits he must have in a wife.  She is the catalyst that brings about Don's transformation and she does it all while simply being herself.  Rosie was a lot of fun, especially when interacting with Don.  It was funny to see his confusion with regards to Rosie.  He doesn't expect to enjoy spending time with her, they have absolutely nothing in common, or so he thinks.  Their relationship is written in a way that is perfectly believable as it develops into a romance.

Don is someone who can easily becoming that annoying person you try to avoid at all costs.  He's an odd duck but as the story progresses Don becomes more than the computer like genius he was in the beginning.  The changes may seem small, he still maintains his high intelligence, but those changes have a profound affect on his life.

The Rosie Project is an amusing look at one man's search for a mate.  It's a perfect example of the phrase "God laughs when you make plans".  Professor Don Tillman makes numerous plans but learns that some of the best things in life are the things you don't plan for.

Rating:  B+

ARC Review: Through the Evil Days

Through the Evil Days

Julia Spencer-Fleming

Mystery

Reverand Clare Ferguson/Russ Van Alstyne/Book 8

Minotar Books/November 5, 2013

On a frigid January night, Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne and Reverend Clare Fergusson are called to the scene of a raging fire, that quickly becomes a double homicide and kidnapping. Which is the very last thing Russ needs...Currently he's struggling with the prospect of impending fatherhood. And his new wife is not at all happy with his proposal for their long-delayed honeymoon: a week in an unelectrified ice-fishing cabin. The vestry of St. Alban's Church has called for the bishop to investigate Clare's "unpriestly" pregnancy. She has one week to find out if she will be scolded, censured, or suspended from her duties.

Officer Hadley Knox is having a miserable January as well. Her on-again-off-again lover, Kevin Flynn, has seven days to weigh an offer from the Syracuse Police Department that might take him half a state away.

As the days and hours tick by, Russ and Clare fight personal and professional battles they've never encountered. In the course of this one tumultuous week the lives of the Millers-Kill residents have come to love and cherish change forever.

This is a series you need to start at the beginning.  Not only because it is so well written but because the characters grow and change as the course of the series progresses.  You wouldn't be completely lost if you start with Through the Evil Days but you would lose that sense of knowing these characters and understanding of how they think.

While Clare and Russ have not had an easy romance by any stretch of the imagination, they are finally able to settle into married life, right after a delayed honeymoon.  The boundaries they set with their careers and their personal lives are very flexible so a honeymoon in a remote location should provide no interference from the outside world.  As much as Russ and Clare try to enjoy their honeymoon, they are both too committed to helping others.

Russ and Clare are not the only ones whose plans are not turning out the way they hoped.  Hadley Knox, single mom and California transplant, is dealing with temptation at work and her past coming back to haunt her.  Hadley is not a typical cop but more or less stumbled into the job out of necessity.  Kevin Flynn might not seem like a typical cop at first glance but he was meant to be a police officer.  Between them they actually make a good team.  I do like how their relationship is developing in both the professional and personal.

As life intrudes on Russ and Clare's honeymoon, so does mystery and danger.  The pace was fairly fast mixed in with some down time but overall, the main plot and subplots, kept moving towards the culmination of good versus evil.  There were a few instances of conflict between Russ and Clare that surprised me in that they came from a place I thought had already been resolved.  There were certainly some very big loose ends dangling by the end of the book.  I just hope we don't have to wait eighteen months for the next book.

Rating: B+

In the Bleak Midwinter
A Fountain Filled With Blood
Out of the Deep I Cry
To Darkness and to Death
All Mortal Flesh
I Shall Not Want
One Was a Soldier
Through the Evil Days