A review by karina_dreamsinwords
Fragile Sanctuary by Catherine Cowles

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

"๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‘๐’†๐’๐’‘๐’๐’† ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’‹๐’–๐’”๐’• ๐’ƒ๐’๐’Š๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’‚๐’–๐’•๐’š ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’•๐’‰ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’…๐’‚๐’Ž๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’†"

"๐’”๐’‰๐’† ๐’‰๐’‚๐’… ๐’”๐’ ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’๐’š ๐’…๐’Š๐’‡๐’‡๐’†๐’“๐’†๐’๐’• ๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’๐’‚๐’–๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’”, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’‚๐’…๐’…๐’Š๐’„๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’†๐’‚๐’„๐’‰ ๐’๐’†๐’˜ ๐’๐’๐’†."

โ€œ๐’๐’๐’๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’–๐’” ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‹๐’–๐’”๐’• ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ. ๐’˜๐’†'๐’“๐’† ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’… ๐’๐’“ ๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’‚๐’…. ๐’˜๐’†'๐’“๐’† ๐’‚ ๐’ƒ๐’๐’†๐’๐’… ๐’๐’‡ ๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’…๐’๐’˜ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’•. ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’”๐’† ๐’”๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’Œ๐’” ๐’๐’๐’๐’š ๐’”๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’„๐’‚๐’–๐’”๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’…๐’‚๐’“๐’Œ๐’๐’†๐’”๐’”."

{Anson is a broody ex- profiler for the FBI turned small town contractor trying to heal from a tragedy that hit too close to home while working on a case. Rhodes, or Rho for short, is a ball of sunshine on a mission to bring her childhood home that burned down and a reminder of all sheโ€™s lost, back to life. When Rho becomes the target of many so called โ€œaccidentsโ€, Anson steps in the keep her safe. Will their forced proximity allow him to open up to Rho, or will his secrets stay buried forever?}

This is a story of two broken people with tragic pasts finding solace and healing within each other. Although heartbreaking on many accounts, watching Anson and Rhodes find peace in each other was a beautiful thing to see. This was romantic suspense at its FINEST! I was riveted from beginning to end & was left questioning everyone + everything until the reveal.. and was still left with my jaw on the floor!

The found family element always gets me and this was no exception. The protective nature of these foster siblings shines through with their love for one another. Not to mention a raunchy & hilarious grandma with her naughty diamond paintings and extra curricular activities had me cackling through out this book.

Catherine Cowles truly excels at writing such gripping stories with lots of heart. I found myself crying at one point, then promptly fanning myself at the spicy scenes. The balance is definitely there and will keep you reading until the very last page. I canโ€™t wait for the next installments in this series as we continue to follow this found family. August 22nd canโ€™t come soon enough with ๐——๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒโ™ก

PICK THIS UP IF YOU LIKEโ€”
๐ŸŒนromantic suspense
๐ŸŒนsmall town
๐ŸŒนbroken hero x broken heroine
๐ŸŒนage gap
๐ŸŒนbrothers best friend
๐ŸŒนhe falls first
๐ŸŒนhealing through love
๐ŸŒนgrumpy x sunshine
๐ŸŒนtouch her & d!e