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hellobookbird 's review for:
Seeing Red
by Sandra Brown
I'm a fan of Sandra Brown but I felt this fell short of her usual mark. Seeing Red is a romantic suspense that I found neither particularly romantic nor suspenseful.
Twenty-five years ago, the Major emerged a hero from the bombing of the Pegasus Hotel. He was catapulted into the spotlight after he was photographed leading a handful of survivors out of the collapsing building, including a little girl whose identity was fiercely guarded. Now a TV journalist on the rise, Kerra Bailey will do anything to score an interview with her hero...even if she has to wrangle an introduction from his estranged son, former ATF agent John Trapper.
Despite John's reticence, Kerra's persistence pays off and the Major grants her an exclusive interview...the first time he's been in the public spotlight for years. However, the night of the interview things go catastrophically wrong and both John and Kerra must race against time to figure out just who wants her and the Major dead.
While the premise was intriguing enough, I couldn't connect to either of the main characters so the romance side of things never clicked. Quite frankly, I couldn't understand why Kerra was ever interested in Trapper in the first place. There's grumpy alpha-male and then there's asshole. (Guess which I felt Trapper fit?)
Even if the romance had been left out, I'm not altogether sure it would have raised my rating much. A successful suspense drives me crazy because it feeds me piecemeal clues to keep me guessing. (Seriously, I love spoilers and not having all of the information is painful.) That didn't happen, it all wrapped up way too suddenly and, while there were some twists and turns that I didn't see coming, the "major reveal" felt off. I don't understand, even after the explanation, what drove this character to be so...out of character.
Overall, a very meh read but I'm in the minority. If you're a Sandra Brown fan, maybe you'll feel differently.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Twenty-five years ago, the Major emerged a hero from the bombing of the Pegasus Hotel. He was catapulted into the spotlight after he was photographed leading a handful of survivors out of the collapsing building, including a little girl whose identity was fiercely guarded. Now a TV journalist on the rise, Kerra Bailey will do anything to score an interview with her hero...even if she has to wrangle an introduction from his estranged son, former ATF agent John Trapper.
Despite John's reticence, Kerra's persistence pays off and the Major grants her an exclusive interview...the first time he's been in the public spotlight for years. However, the night of the interview things go catastrophically wrong and both John and Kerra must race against time to figure out just who wants her and the Major dead.
While the premise was intriguing enough, I couldn't connect to either of the main characters so the romance side of things never clicked. Quite frankly, I couldn't understand why Kerra was ever interested in Trapper in the first place. There's grumpy alpha-male and then there's asshole. (Guess which I felt Trapper fit?)
Even if the romance had been left out, I'm not altogether sure it would have raised my rating much. A successful suspense drives me crazy because it feeds me piecemeal clues to keep me guessing. (Seriously, I love spoilers and not having all of the information is painful.) That didn't happen, it all wrapped up way too suddenly and, while there were some twists and turns that I didn't see coming, the "major reveal" felt off. I don't understand, even after the explanation, what drove this character to be so...out of character.
Overall, a very meh read but I'm in the minority. If you're a Sandra Brown fan, maybe you'll feel differently.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.