nguyenkristine 's review for:

All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles

4.5

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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: Complicated

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All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles completely snuck up on me in the best way. This book gave me two of my absolute favorite genres (romance and mystery/thriller) all wrapped into one story, and it seriously delivered. Plus, it had one of my fave tropes: enemies to lovers. Like… yes please, sign me up for the tension and the slow-burn sass. 

Ridley and Colt were such a solid pairing. Colt had that broody protector thing going on (but not in an overbearing way, thankfully), and Ridley was headstrong, curious, and had a lot of emotional depth. I loved watching their walls come down, but I’m not gonna lie, I actually found myself even more into the mystery than the romance at times?? The case had me hooked. I was lowkey playing detective in my head the whole time, trying to piece everything together with Ridley as she dug deeper into the town’s secrets. 

And speaking of the town, I was obsessed with the whole small-town vibe. We got this cozy, community feel with a fun cast of characters that made it feel real. I loved exploring the town right alongside Ridley and slowly peeling back all the layers. Also, special shoutout to Emerson Trey, they were such standouts and would totally read a book dedicated to just their dynamic. 

Now, why wasn’t this a full five-star for me? Well, the plot did lean a little predictable at times. The big reveal at the end did catch me off guard for a second, but I also had a moment earlier in the book where I suspected that character, so it wasn’t a total jaw-drop moment. I was hoping for a bit more of that “WHAT JUST HAPPENED” shock factor. Still, it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed the ride. 

Oh and this might sound small, but I loved the short, digestible chapters. They were the perfect length to keep me going without that “ugh, how many pages till the next break?” feeling. It made the whole book super bingeable and easy to fly through. 

Overall, this was such a good read. A perfect blend of heart, suspense, healing, and tension. If you’re into small-town mysteries with emotional romance and just enough danger to keep things interesting, All the Missing Pieces is definitely worth picking up. Catherine Cowles knows how to write characters that feel real and stories that pull you in from the first page.