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paulabrandon's review
4.0
Well, dip me in turpentine! This was actually...good. Like, really good! If you've seen some of my reviews, I've given a lot of 1 star reviews to Jenna Kernan's work. The previous mini-series was just terrible (and I admittedly don't like being reminded of it constantly in this mini-series), with plots that made little sense, glaring continuity and editing errors, stilted and disjointed dialogue, an overriding sense of boredom because nothing seemed to be happening, and most frustratingly, nothing ever seemed to be resolved. This series got off to an inauspicious start, with similar problems in the first two books.
However, this entry is a complete turn-up for the books! The plot has police officer Ava Hood arriving on the reservation because her niece is the latest girl to go missing, seemingly the next victim of the surrogacy ring. The first book established that there was a connection to the reservation's clinic, so Ava's suspicions have fallen upon Dr Hector Hauser and Dr Kee Redhorse, the clinicians who work there. She doesn't want to believe Kee is guilty, because she thinks he's hot (obviously, and the model on the cover certainly got my pulse racing), and also because he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Of course, her feelings for him ramp up the more time they spend together.
My biggest beef with Kernan's books before this series was that she threw a bunch on information at the wall to see what stuck, and simply didn't bother explaining all the extraneous stuff that didn't stick. Although the first two books were dull and didn't resolve much, the plots at least kept their focus. Here, we actually get given a who, what and why, and it just helps so much when you know all the players and what their motives are. I don't ask for much, really! It provided me with that much needed context to make sense of everybody's actions. It even helped make sense of the two books before this one! (Although that doesn't make those books any better. I don't see why what's revealed here couldn't have been revealed back in the first book, really).
The plot is suspenseful, especially the final quarter. And we have a really kick-ass heroine in Ava, who isn't afraid to break the rules in order to save her niece. She is smart, resourceful, independent and proactive, and manages to be all those qualities without that irritating "I don't need your help" mentality. I really enjoyed reading about her. Kee is a bit forehead-slappingly oblivious, but who can resist a hot doctor? Certainly not me! I also appreciated that our leads were in their late 20s and not teenagers!
So I'm quite stunned this is from the same author as all those other books I gave 1 star to. It's a legitimately good, suspenseful romantic thriller and gives me a smidgen of hope the final book could end events satisfactorily. I must also say, I feel a lot less mean being able to give this author a 4 star rating for one of her books.
However, this entry is a complete turn-up for the books! The plot has police officer Ava Hood arriving on the reservation because her niece is the latest girl to go missing, seemingly the next victim of the surrogacy ring. The first book established that there was a connection to the reservation's clinic, so Ava's suspicions have fallen upon Dr Hector Hauser and Dr Kee Redhorse, the clinicians who work there. She doesn't want to believe Kee is guilty, because she thinks he's hot (obviously, and the model on the cover certainly got my pulse racing), and also because he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Of course, her feelings for him ramp up the more time they spend together.
My biggest beef with Kernan's books before this series was that she threw a bunch on information at the wall to see what stuck, and simply didn't bother explaining all the extraneous stuff that didn't stick. Although the first two books were dull and didn't resolve much, the plots at least kept their focus. Here, we actually get given a who, what and why, and it just helps so much when you know all the players and what their motives are. I don't ask for much, really! It provided me with that much needed context to make sense of everybody's actions. It even helped make sense of the two books before this one! (Although that doesn't make those books any better. I don't see why what's revealed here couldn't have been revealed back in the first book, really).
The plot is suspenseful, especially the final quarter. And we have a really kick-ass heroine in Ava, who isn't afraid to break the rules in order to save her niece. She is smart, resourceful, independent and proactive, and manages to be all those qualities without that irritating "I don't need your help" mentality. I really enjoyed reading about her. Kee is a bit forehead-slappingly oblivious, but who can resist a hot doctor? Certainly not me! I also appreciated that our leads were in their late 20s and not teenagers!
So I'm quite stunned this is from the same author as all those other books I gave 1 star to. It's a legitimately good, suspenseful romantic thriller and gives me a smidgen of hope the final book could end events satisfactorily. I must also say, I feel a lot less mean being able to give this author a 4 star rating for one of her books.
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