Book Blurb:
A single photo of herself as an infant on a beach, taken before the date on her birth certificate, throws everything Calliope Pearson knows about herself into question. Hoping to find answers, she takes advantage of her job as a travel writer to make a reservation at the Caribbean island resort in the picture.
Resort security chief Mac Brody distrusts Callie on sight. After all, she looks exactly like his deceitful missing wife, Nikki, who owns half the resort. But when Nikki’s found dead, Mac's facing murder charges, and he’s sure that Callie must hold the key to proving his innocence.
The deeper Callie and Mac dive into the mystery of her past, the more bodies surface. And they’ll have to learn to trust each other, or become victims of a dark danger neither could've imagined….
My Review:
4 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery, Romance--
Callie is a successful travel writer, but when her father passes away, she feels adrift. While going through his possessions, she finds a picture from the past that has no explanation, but raises too many questions. Callie sets down a path to discover the secrets her father had hidden, a path she has no idea where it will take her.
This is the second Laura Curtis book I have read and I have to say she is fast becoming one of my favorite romantic suspense authors (up there with Julie Garwood’s Heartbreaker, which is my all time favorite romantic suspense). She writes compelling characters that you root for as well as twisted convoluted plots that are not easily guessed. And yes, there is romance and sexual tension, but it does not take over the book and it is not over the top turning the story into an erotica. The heart of the book is a mystery and it was well played out. I found it interesting that the identity of the killer was revealed around half way through the book, but the motivations behind their actions were much more convoluted and not explained until the end. I personally had a few suspects in mind, so I was not shocked at the identity since they had been my number one choice. I had a few theories as to the why, but the author did a good job drawing it out. I was afraid the book would become boring after the identity was known, but the author kept the plot moving with tons of action, danger and suspense. There are some gritty issues and gory details described, so don’t read this if you are looking for a cozy, light mystery.
The book alternates viewpoints between Callie and Mac, with just a hint of the killer’s point of view thrown in. Callie was a resourceful character, able to adapt to most situations, or at least fake it well. She appeared to be a blah kind of person to be perfectly honest at the start of the story, but then she revealed that she had hidden skills and quirks that made her very interesting. There were moments when her need to be independent warred with her survival instincts (common sense, perhaps?) but luckily she choose correctly. Mac, the hero/love interest was a complete tool at the start of the book, but I guess he needs some slack due to his missing wife and all. He turned out to be the ideal man (in my opinion) who would risk it all to help Callie out and get to the bottom of the danger. They made a good team as well as an interesting couple. The insight into the killer was crazy, with their thoughts seemingly so irrational it was hard to match the inner voice with the public image of said killer.
I enjoyed this title and will read anything else the author writes. I absolutely loved the ending and could not be any happier about how the events played out. After reading the book, I see that it is the first a new series which is exciting. The book had some intriguing side characters that I would like to know more about (hint hint Nash and Travis who I lurv!), so hopefully they will be the main characters next since Callie and Mac played out their adventure.
I received this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
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