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weebyw's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Karen Rose just KNOWS what she's writing about like. every book the romance & suspense is just too good. This is one in particular was also incredibly heartbreaking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Child abuse
catgood's review
5.0
This was an excellent read! It was my first book by Karen Rose, and I potentially should have read the previous books in this series first because there’s a TON of crossover. However, she did an excellent job of giving context without making it clumsy and cumbersome but also didn’t leave it up in the air so the reader had no idea what was going on and wouldn’t without reading the previous books.
I love how long the book was because you got so much development of the plot and characters and enough time to flesh things out. The books deals with some pretty heavy topics (CW for child abuse, murder, to name a few) but the author wrote an excellent romantic suspense. I’m checking out her back catalog now!
I love how long the book was because you got so much development of the plot and characters and enough time to flesh things out. The books deals with some pretty heavy topics (CW for child abuse, murder, to name a few) but the author wrote an excellent romantic suspense. I’m checking out her back catalog now!
jessiebwriting's review against another edition
5.0
I love Karen Rose!!! This story was so well written and the pacing just kept your heart racing. Throughout it, you're on the edge of your seat and certainly terrified that a character may die. This one doesn't hide the killer's identity but that doesn't stop the twists and shocking reveals. I was also happy to finally get Dani and Diesel's story and was so happy with the ending. This story also hits you in the feels - lots of tears and honestly, rage too. I would definitely add a trigger warning to this story. There is child abuse and characters struggling with the trauma of experiencing childhood sexual abuse. These were often gut-wrenching scenes to read so please practice self-care while reading. A fantastic read that I couldn't put down but also was on the edge of my seat terrified of what might happen next. A beautiful romance and story about family and healing.
krys72599's review against another edition
5.0
Michael Rowland is not your typical teenager - he’s been deaf since birth and in chapter one, he’s already had to rescue his 5yo brother from being abused and possibly killed. He goes on the run to protect his brother and they both wind up being protected by Coach Diesel Kennedy and Dr. Dani Novak. Two mysteries wind up being connected by the end of the book - one of them wasn’t quite as easy to follow as the other - but I love the way the author intertwines the lives of so many people without confusing the reader! This is the 5th in her Cincinnati series. I ordered the missing three today and can’t wait to get them!!!!
books4annie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
stefaniefrei's review against another edition
5.0
Page Turner
Trigger warning: abuse, sexual, verbal, physical, including children. Some good deal of PTSB, cutting persons into pieces while they are still alive – uhm, do I have to mention shooting, explosions, abduction, ….?? Still, there is much more gory stuff around, like Cody McFaddyen.
When five-year-old Joshua Rowland is asked what Michael does for him he says ‘Washes my clothes. Plays with me. Reads me stories at night and fixes my breakfast when I wake up. Eggs and bacon’. Lucky for him – but his older brother is only fourteen. Both their widowed-and-remarried mom does not care much, she is rather out partying or drugged. Their stepfather is a different story. Michael wakes up one night to find John Brewster sedating little Joshua, certainly for no good reason. He fights the grown-up and flees with the younger kid, only to witness by accident an even harsher crime. Talk? But to whom?
Diesel Kennedy had a rough childhood himself, with more similarities to Michael than both would love to even think about. The IT-pro volunteers as a soccer trainer to offer a male role model to kids just like Joshua. When the pre-schooler’s mom does not pick him up on time, again, Diesel gets to know Michael, only to learn that something is not quite right here. Thus, he turns to Dr. Dani Novak, for whom he not only has a not-so-secret crush for quite some time, but who can sign and thus can communicate with deaf Michael.
When John Brewster’s body parts are found in the Ohio river, Diesel, Dani, and the children find themselves in the middle of a police and FBI investigation, and later, as the target of a killer at large. They might have quite some help, but the whole story is not that easy to uncover.
This is my second Karen Rose and I love it, despite some minor issues. The book is #5 in the “Cincinnati series” and also #23 in the “Romantic Supsense series” – I have read none of either before, and the Romantic Supsense seems to be rather loosely interlinked with the Cincinnati part: imagine CSI, CSI Miami, etc. with the “staff” visiting each other time and again and the occasional name dropping, so it seems to me. Within the Cincinnatis, it seems that the focus is on one consistent group, but different members for each book – guessing from this and the blurbs. This comes with one of my issues – a huuuuuge crowd of people. A huge crowd of people, too, that does not seem to meet others a lot, as they are all interlinked. Like Dr. Dani Novak’s older brother is one of the FBI agents involved, both their cousin one of the cops involved, and younger brother Greg is deaf just like Michael. The older brother’s wife happens to be a child therapist etc.
At some point, the dogs got thrown in for the melee – I LOVE dogs, but this was about when I could only ever pin down the names to “good” or “other”, I just lost it. Did not seem to matter much, but it might have been easier with the four books (or 22) read ahead of this. Else, no problem at all (well, some spoilers to what happened before, like, “Dani survived the attack”?).
What I loved: The books brings to mind how to deal with somebody who is deaf, with somebody who is HIV-positive, and a couple of other things. This is all done so cleverly, I’d rather have this as a school read for older kids (who do not get nightmares from the violence, hopefully?). It basically is so much a read for respecting the other, try and put yourself in somebody’s shoes, use your brain and get informed about what is there – great. Mix in a hereditary desease, a gay couple who keeps it all together, and bringing to mind that some people’s childhoods are not what they should be. All this without lecturing or making those topics the only focus, more a really relaxed approach of “hey, that’s society, live with it or be like Uncle Jim”.
Oh, did I mention the story is page-turning breath-taking?
What was not so much my cup of tea: The Diesel physiology. Come on, that guy has a full-time job with a newspaper, volunteers with the kids and builds houses for those that could not do that on their own. Yet he is huge, does not have one ounce of fat upon him – meaning, a fitness that comes from working out some hours DAILY. Not that you ever saw him pushing iron, or eat stupid amounts of protein. Oh, please! On the other hand, I hate tattoos to quite some extent (I am okay with maybe one the size of a square inch somewhere hidden) – but Karen Rose’s description was somewhat mouth watering still
Trigger warning: abuse, sexual, verbal, physical, including children. Some good deal of PTSB, cutting persons into pieces while they are still alive – uhm, do I have to mention shooting, explosions, abduction, ….?? Still, there is much more gory stuff around, like Cody McFaddyen.
When five-year-old Joshua Rowland is asked what Michael does for him he says ‘Washes my clothes. Plays with me. Reads me stories at night and fixes my breakfast when I wake up. Eggs and bacon’. Lucky for him – but his older brother is only fourteen. Both their widowed-and-remarried mom does not care much, she is rather out partying or drugged. Their stepfather is a different story. Michael wakes up one night to find John Brewster sedating little Joshua, certainly for no good reason. He fights the grown-up and flees with the younger kid, only to witness by accident an even harsher crime. Talk? But to whom?
Diesel Kennedy had a rough childhood himself, with more similarities to Michael than both would love to even think about. The IT-pro volunteers as a soccer trainer to offer a male role model to kids just like Joshua. When the pre-schooler’s mom does not pick him up on time, again, Diesel gets to know Michael, only to learn that something is not quite right here. Thus, he turns to Dr. Dani Novak, for whom he not only has a not-so-secret crush for quite some time, but who can sign and thus can communicate with deaf Michael.
When John Brewster’s body parts are found in the Ohio river, Diesel, Dani, and the children find themselves in the middle of a police and FBI investigation, and later, as the target of a killer at large. They might have quite some help, but the whole story is not that easy to uncover.
This is my second Karen Rose and I love it, despite some minor issues. The book is #5 in the “Cincinnati series” and also #23 in the “Romantic Supsense series” – I have read none of either before, and the Romantic Supsense seems to be rather loosely interlinked with the Cincinnati part: imagine CSI, CSI Miami, etc. with the “staff” visiting each other time and again and the occasional name dropping, so it seems to me. Within the Cincinnatis, it seems that the focus is on one consistent group, but different members for each book – guessing from this and the blurbs. This comes with one of my issues – a huuuuuge crowd of people. A huge crowd of people, too, that does not seem to meet others a lot, as they are all interlinked. Like Dr. Dani Novak’s older brother is one of the FBI agents involved, both their cousin one of the cops involved, and younger brother Greg is deaf just like Michael. The older brother’s wife happens to be a child therapist etc.
At some point, the dogs got thrown in for the melee – I LOVE dogs, but this was about when I could only ever pin down the names to “good” or “other”, I just lost it. Did not seem to matter much, but it might have been easier with the four books (or 22) read ahead of this. Else, no problem at all (well, some spoilers to what happened before, like, “Dani survived the attack”?).
What I loved: The books brings to mind how to deal with somebody who is deaf, with somebody who is HIV-positive, and a couple of other things. This is all done so cleverly, I’d rather have this as a school read for older kids (who do not get nightmares from the violence, hopefully?). It basically is so much a read for respecting the other, try and put yourself in somebody’s shoes, use your brain and get informed about what is there – great. Mix in a hereditary desease, a gay couple who keeps it all together, and bringing to mind that some people’s childhoods are not what they should be. All this without lecturing or making those topics the only focus, more a really relaxed approach of “hey, that’s society, live with it or be like Uncle Jim”.
Oh, did I mention the story is page-turning breath-taking?
What was not so much my cup of tea: The Diesel physiology. Come on, that guy has a full-time job with a newspaper, volunteers with the kids and builds houses for those that could not do that on their own. Yet he is huge, does not have one ounce of fat upon him – meaning, a fitness that comes from working out some hours DAILY. Not that you ever saw him pushing iron, or eat stupid amounts of protein. Oh, please! On the other hand, I hate tattoos to quite some extent (I am okay with maybe one the size of a square inch somewhere hidden) – but Karen Rose’s description was somewhat mouth watering still
doseofromance's review against another edition
2.0
Strangely there is a lot going on here (arguably too much) and the book still dragged for me very quickly. The suspense was good, but I didn't connect with Dani and Diesel at all. I used to really enjoy Karen Rose book, but her kind of universe has extended too far. The story relies a lot on the connection between the characters and even though I knew most of them, I couldn't keep track and there were just too many. It really might be past time to lay the Cincinnati gang to rest. Also Dani and Diesel are a little too perfect. Like everyone in the books they endured a lot of trauma and even though they still struggle with it (understandably so), they are super super altruistic, understanding, kind, supportive, good friends, good listener, dependable, etc etc. This is not to say they are those things despite the trauma, but rather I think the author uses trauma as a plot device to build beyond perfect characters, that are truly too good to be true, believable or relatable. And while they are good people because they have all the right qualities and thoughts, they don't really have any personalities. I could not attribute one character trait to any of them that aren't related to them just being.... Perfect and good. Let's stop it. Let's bring back characters that actually feel like people and not unattainable gods.
jadestar's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it. Good plot, loved the layout, chapter styling, characters and character narratives. Eagerly seeking more from Karen Rose
waltzingmonkey's review
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0