Romantic Suspense

Book Review: Trapped by George Bernstein

October 8, 2013 1 Comment

Title: Trapped

Author: George Bernstein

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Age Group: Adult (18+)

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon, B&N

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

The darkness is still, silent. Jackee Maren’s heart pounds reverberating through her body as fear sears her veins. Someone’s coming. No way out. This time they will kill me. Her breath is short, her chest burns. Must run. Faster. Faster! Her eyes fly open, her heart still racing with blinding fear. Jackee breathes deeply with relief and stares at the ceiling desperately trying to calm herself. The same dream. Something, someone is watching . . . and waiting.

A tragic car accident leaves beautiful, vibrant Jackee Maren in “Locked-in Syndrome,” completely paralyzed, able to move only her eyes. Jackee’s physical therapist, Kevin, seems more invested in her well-being than her husband, Phil, and teaches her to communicate by blinking her eyes.

Soon she discovers she has the ability to sense others thoughts, but hides this talent from everyone but her sons, not knowing who she can trust. Then she discovers her car accident was no accident, and vows to expose the person who wants her dead before they get a second chance. Exercising her new psychic ability, Jackee finally learns who masterminded the accident but feels helpless to stop them from trying to kill her again.
Fading physically, she doggedly embarks on a psychic plan to not only ensure her boys are safe forever, but to exact revenge on her would-be murderer.

Jackee vows not to rest until this killer understands what it is to be TRAPPED! But she must hurry, with only months left to live.

The premise for Trapped was great. After a car accident and a surgery gone wrong, Jackee is trapped inside her own body. The only thing she can still do, is blink. Her husband seems to take sadistic pleasure in her current state, but at least she still has her therapist to talk to. When Phil, the husband, decides to bring her home and arrange for nurses to take care of her, she thinks he does it out of the goodness of his heart. But the more time passes, the more she figures out something is wrong. When she nearly dies, Jackee grows convinced someone wants her dead. With her new-found ability to read minds and influence other people’s thoughts, she manages to communicate with her sons and other people in her household. Unfortunately the one person she longs to communicate with the most, her physical therapist and best friend, Kevin, can’t hear her mental messages.

Jackee swears to take revenge on the one’s who put her in this condition and ruined her life. But trapped in her own body, she’ll have to play it smart if she wants to get her vengeance…

I liked the supernatural aspect of this book. After she gets trapped in her own body, Jackee gets the ability to communicate with others in her mind, which I thought was kind of cool. There’s also plenty of suspense, with the attempts on Jackee’s life. It’s quite obvious from the get-go who the culprit is though, but it’s still fascinating to find out why he did it, and I kept wondering how exactly Jackee was going to get her vengeance, and if she ever would.

Some parts of the book I didn’t enjoy all that much. Rhonda, for instance. I had no idea why Jackee liked her, or why Kevin did. She was obnoxious and boring, mean and cruel. It made no sense for them to like her at all. I kept on hoping Rhonda wouldn’t get a happy ending, because she certainly didn’t deserve one.

There were a few unexpected plot twists, the most notable one at the end. And may I say, thank God for that one. Else I probably wouldn’t have liked the book all that much, but that last plot twist really saved the day.

If you like romantic suspense with a darker-themed plot, then Trapped will probably be a good choice for you. The overall theme is rather dark, kind of reminiscent of gothic horror. The book has a rather claustrophobic feel, mostly because half of it takes place in Jackee’s mind, and because our main character, Jackee, is in a rather claustrophobic spot herself. If you’re looking for light-hearted romantic suspense, then this is not it – it’s too dark and depressing for that. However, I thought the depressing atmosphere actually added to the book, and made it more intriguing than it would’ve been otherwise. Either way, it’s well written and suspenseful, and with plenty of romance.

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Book Review: Cast The Cards by Shyla Colt

August 27, 2013 Leave a Comment

Title: Cast The Cards

Author: Shyla Colt

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Age Group: Adult (18+)

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon, Goodreads

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Savannah escaped a kidnapping but her best friend Clark—the man she secretly loved—didn’t. Guilt-ridden and changed after the event, she gives up her dream of teaching and earns a spot in the F.B.I as a profiler. When she’s targeted by the very same kidnappers wishing to finish the job, she is armed with her skills, backed by her first love’s twin brother, and forced to revisit her demons when Clark’s ghost appears.

After his twin’s murder, Officer Carey Carr loses more than his brother. Savannah avoids him for a decade. Her return—and her steaming-hot body—stir brand new feelings in Carey. But Clark’s reappearance has Carey battling to control his primal desires around the woman his twin loved.

As Savannah and Carey, with Clark’s help, embark on a cruel game of cat and mouse with the kidnappers, the twins come to an understanding that involves Savannah and more pleasure than the three of them have ever dreamed.

Cast The Cards starts out with Savannah going on a date with her best friend Clark, for who she secretly has feelings. They go to a fair, and decide to take one last stop at the Tunnel of Love, mostly because Savannah wants to. She’s already noticed some weird people hanging around at the fair, but she dismisses it as normal. That is, until she and Clark get kidnapped. They wake up in the trunk of a speeding car and narrowly manage to escape. Except that when Savannah wakes up, Clark is gone, murdered.

Unable to cope with everything that happened, Savannah becomes an FBI agent and moves halfway across the country to escape her past. When she returns to her hometown, she must come face to face with Carey, Clark’s twin brother. Carey has been just as affected by the loss as she has. He tries not to think about it, but the memory haunts him.

Then Clark’s ghost shows up, with an important and urgent message. The people who killed him, want to finish the job. They’re after Savannah. And Clark has come back to protect her, and he’ll need Carey’s help for that. As Carey and Savannah work together to solve the mystery, escape from Clark’s murderers and hopefully bring them to justice, Carey and Savannah mustdeal with their evolving feelings for each other.

I loved Carey’s personality. He was your typical sullen hero with a tormented past. I also liked his interactions with Clark – they were of the typical bickering twins variety, even if Clark was dead. I did think both he and Savannah were a bit too quick to accept the return of Clark’s spirit (why after all these years?) but apart from that, both of their personalities were relatable and believable. I liked Carey more than Savannah, because Savannah could act a little stuck up when she wanted to. I know that was part of her mask to protect herself, but still, I wasn’t a fan of that behavior.

Clark was all right. I thought he was a bit too possessive for a ghost. Rather than hold on to Savannah for dear life, I thought if he really loved her, he should’ve let go.

The plot was rich, detailed and complexer than I thought it would. Romantic suspense novels tend to lack high stakes. Sometimes it’s a murder mystery, sure, but the characters are never truly in danger. This book read more like a mix between suspense and thriller, because Savannah’s life is actually in danger.

For me, this was a fast read I finished in one sitting. It had a nice blend of suspense and romance, and the writing was decent and solid as well. Would love to read more by this author.

Filed Under: Mystery and Suspense, Reviews, Romantic Suspense Tagged With: book reviews, book tours, enchanted book promotions, romance, suspense

Book Review: Finding Amy by Carol Braswell

August 7, 2013 Leave a Comment

Title: Finding Amy
Author: Carol Braswell
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4 stars
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

What begins in Montana as routine for Texas Ranger Carson Garrett, quickly turns into a ‘run for your life’ chase in order to protect the two women and child he is returning to Texas.

How far would you go to protect the ones you love?

                When Texas Ranger, Carson Garrett is assigned to locate and place in protective custody the wife of a man suspected of illegal activities with a Columbian drug lord, it turns into more than routine. The estranged husband has put out a hit on his wife and the only person who knows where she is hiding is her twin sister, Amy Summers.

Protecting the sister she loves may be the thing that destroys her…

                It is a race against time for Carson to find Amy, convenience her of the imminent danger and get her to lead him to Jamie so he can escort both women and Jamie’s four-year-old child back to Texas.

Even if they make it can love on the run survive?

                Besides the obvious problems of running from a man who is trying to kill them, Carson and Amy have an instant attraction to each other and it is clouding his usual sharp judgment and causing them both to make costly mistakes.

A determined hitman, a diabolical plan. There is only one way to stop them both…

I had no expectations when I started reading Finding Amy, but in the end, I was not disappointed. The story is both romantic and suspenseful, and while the romance is a large part of the book, it’s not the sole important part, and a lot of the attention is aimed toward the suspense and background story as well. The writing is decent, and the pacing is fast. If you enjoy romantic suspense, read on.

Carson Garrett is a Texas Ranger (instant bonus points) and he’s assigned to locate the wife and child of a man suspected of illegal dealings with a Columbina druglord. But the wife and child have gone into hiding, and no one knows their whereabouts, no one except her twin sister, Amy Summers.

So as to complicate things, Carson has to find Amy first, convince her to trust him, then let her lead him to her twin sister, Jamie, and then bring the two women and Jamie’s four-year-old kid back to Texas, to place them in protective custody. Easier said than done. Especially when they’re chased by a hitman.

The moment Carson sees Amy, he experiences emotions he never thought he could. He tries to ignore the instant attraction between them, in fear that it might cloud his judgement and cause him to make mistakes. And the last thing they need, with so many lives at stake, are mistakes…

The suspense plot was good. The women being chased by a hitman – plotline was a bit cliché, but the execution was great, so it didn’t bother me that much. I also thought Jamie was a bit cliché-ish, but she didn’t play such a major role, so I could live with that.

Carson and Amy however, were a match made in heaven. I liked both of them as individuals, and together I liked them even more. Carson is brave and courageous, intelligent, and willing to risk his life for others – a noble trait. Amy is witty and resourceful and puts her loyalty to her family above everything else.

If you like romantic suspense, then you shouldn’t miss out on Finding Amy. An enjoyable read, with good writing and interesting characters.