Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Temptation Trails by Claire Kingsley

4 reviews

dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I have so many thoughts. The premise of this book, crime-wise, is great. It’s haunting and scary and, for once, I actually didn’t guess the killer beforehand! But there were also some non-murdery happenings in this book that gave me the heebie jeebies. Namely, Garrett’s incredibly inappropriate misuse of his authority and power as a police officer. This is a slight spoiler but I’m not going to cover it up as I think it’s important. The man literally follows Harper in his car for no reason, pulls her over which, let’s face it, is an incredibly scary and dangerous situation for many people, particularly minorities and our most vulnerable, and asks her on a date. Would I, as a woman driving alone, feel comfortable rejecting a date if a police officer had pulled me over to the side of the road and was leaning over me? Hell no. I’d be terrified. That was so inappropriate and creepy that I almost DNF’d. I am fully aware that this is a romance book and Harper was attracted to him but, come on, there is nothing romantic about using your authority to put someone in a vulnerable position and then ask something of them.

On another note, Owen was very sweet and I hope he lives the best life ever (not in law enforcement). An actual angel. 

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The bad luck thing felt a little cliche but I get it was needed to drive the plot forward. I liked that Owen became a dominant character and I loved his relationship with Harper. I knew it wouldn’t be Matt that was the killer, it was too on the nose. But I wish I’d gotten to hear more about Phillip so I could try to figure it out because there was no way I wouldn’t guessed that bc we didn’t really know his character before it was figured out. Overall it was a cute book.

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

That’s more like it! After being slightly disappointed with Storms and Secrets, this was definitely more what I’ve come to expect from the books in this world: Funny, somewhat mysterious, with a sweet, swoony romance! 

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It was an interesting read, but I don’t think the book is really memorable. I wasn’t so blown away that I will reread.
But overall a fun and relaxing book. Really cute new family, and all of the characters are nice.

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