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A review by kindlelovingmom
Smoke and Mirrors by Julie Rowe
5.0
I really enjoyed this second book of the series. Exciting, scary, sexy, and fun romantic suspense! 4.5 Stars.
Kini Kerek is a CDC Public Health Nurse. She's in rural Utah researching the population for antibodies for the Hantavirus, in the hopes of proving the need for the development of a vaccine. But, some terrible rumors have preceded her in this small town, and she has been met with suspicion, threats, and even violence. She's not sure what her next move will be, when there is an outbreak of the very virus she's been sent to investigate. She needs help, and quickly. Luckily, a local man, fresh out of the Army, has taken on the task of helping, and protecting, her. If only she wasn't so drawn to him personally.
Lyle Smoke was just discharged from the Army, Special Forces. His good friend River, the hero from book 1, has offered him a job with the CDC, and he was strongly considering it. But, when he meets Kini, in a MOST interesting way, and wants to help her, he agrees to the job even quicker than expected. Smoke has some damage in his past, and not just from the military. But, he feels drawn to Kini, and feels an urgent need to protect her. So, he uses all the skills his Native American upbringing taught him, and the additional skills the Army honed in him, to help her figure out the mystery, and keep them both alive.
Smoke and Kini's chemistry was crazy strong from minute one. Their meeting was quite unconventional and unique, and I loved their banter and ease with each other from the start. She also felt comfortable and at home with his family, and I loved that too, especially since she had no family of her own. Smoke has had some dark things happen to him in his life, not to mention, the local sheriff's deputy hates his guts, so he's got some major issues to contend with. They both had deep and traumatic emotional scars that they had to figure out how to deal with before they had any hope of being together. I liked that they were both willing to acknowledge those issues, and work on them, in order to make things work.
Smoke's family were all great side characters, as were a few other people on the CDC task force. There were also great villains in this story. Ones that I wanted to reach through the book and smack around in fury, as well as ones where you weren't sure what their motivations really were. It was a great suspense plot, and there were so many potential bad guys, and it kept me guessing who all was bad, and what those bad people might do. I loved that feeling in the pit of my stomach as the plot continued on, and it's exactly what I look for in my romantic suspense.
My only issues here were with a couple loose ends I didn't feel were tied up, at least not on the page. One had to do with Smoke's cousin. And another with one of the villains, and their motivations, which seemed a little unclear to me and left me feeling a little unsatisfied. I don't want to say any more that might lead to spoilers.
I really loved the story, and I fell totally in love with Smoke, and with Kini. They were an awesome couple, and they made an amazing team. I'm very much looking forward to more in this series. There are at least 2 other characters I have my eyes on as having the next book, and I'd be thrilled to read about either one!
ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Megan from Alpha Book Club
Kini Kerek is a CDC Public Health Nurse. She's in rural Utah researching the population for antibodies for the Hantavirus, in the hopes of proving the need for the development of a vaccine. But, some terrible rumors have preceded her in this small town, and she has been met with suspicion, threats, and even violence. She's not sure what her next move will be, when there is an outbreak of the very virus she's been sent to investigate. She needs help, and quickly. Luckily, a local man, fresh out of the Army, has taken on the task of helping, and protecting, her. If only she wasn't so drawn to him personally.
Lyle Smoke was just discharged from the Army, Special Forces. His good friend River, the hero from book 1, has offered him a job with the CDC, and he was strongly considering it. But, when he meets Kini, in a MOST interesting way, and wants to help her, he agrees to the job even quicker than expected. Smoke has some damage in his past, and not just from the military. But, he feels drawn to Kini, and feels an urgent need to protect her. So, he uses all the skills his Native American upbringing taught him, and the additional skills the Army honed in him, to help her figure out the mystery, and keep them both alive.
Smoke and Kini's chemistry was crazy strong from minute one. Their meeting was quite unconventional and unique, and I loved their banter and ease with each other from the start. She also felt comfortable and at home with his family, and I loved that too, especially since she had no family of her own. Smoke has had some dark things happen to him in his life, not to mention, the local sheriff's deputy hates his guts, so he's got some major issues to contend with. They both had deep and traumatic emotional scars that they had to figure out how to deal with before they had any hope of being together. I liked that they were both willing to acknowledge those issues, and work on them, in order to make things work.
Smoke's family were all great side characters, as were a few other people on the CDC task force. There were also great villains in this story. Ones that I wanted to reach through the book and smack around in fury, as well as ones where you weren't sure what their motivations really were. It was a great suspense plot, and there were so many potential bad guys, and it kept me guessing who all was bad, and what those bad people might do. I loved that feeling in the pit of my stomach as the plot continued on, and it's exactly what I look for in my romantic suspense.
My only issues here were with a couple loose ends I didn't feel were tied up, at least not on the page. One had to do with Smoke's cousin. And another with one of the villains, and their motivations, which seemed a little unclear to me and left me feeling a little unsatisfied. I don't want to say any more that might lead to spoilers.
I really loved the story, and I fell totally in love with Smoke, and with Kini. They were an awesome couple, and they made an amazing team. I'm very much looking forward to more in this series. There are at least 2 other characters I have my eyes on as having the next book, and I'd be thrilled to read about either one!
ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Megan from Alpha Book Club