Casee‘s review of Tasting Fear by Shannon McKenna.
Blood Will Tell
Nancy. . .Nell. . .Vivi. . . Three sisters who know there is no force on earth greater than love. . .unless it is the desire for vengeance. When their adored foster mother is murdered, the D’Onofrio women come together to hunt for her murderer—and track down a family legacy gone missing: rare, priceless art from the Renaissance, a treasure worth killing for. The law can only do so much and the three sisters are on their own—until three mysterious men get involved. . .
Startled to find a brawny stranger at her mother’s house, Nancy is even more surprised at the heat of passion that flares between them. Liam is intense and instantly protective. But is it wise to trust him with every secret? Her sister Nell has turned to Duncan, her new boss, for help. He’s an expert on the dark underworld of cyberspace, where other clues may lurk. And Duncan is so sexy it’s scary. All Nell has to do is say the hardest word of all: yes. But what about the youngest of the D’Onofrios, the wild and willful Vivi? She’s on the verge of falling in love with Jack, who’s all about fierce vigilance. . .
The sisters embrace the ultimate in passion as danger stalks them all. Unknown and unseen, the killer is very, very near . . .
This book is like Chains by Shiloh Walker. It’s broken down into three different stories, but the overall arc is the same. While I usually like Shannon McKenna, this format didn’t do it for me.
Nancy is all about work. Liam is all about home. They are polar opposites, but their attraction to each other is fierce. Liam is a natural caregiver while Nancy is used to taking care of herself. When the sisters realize that the person that murdered their mother is now after them, Liam wants to lock Nancy away until he’s found. That obviously doesn’t go over well with Nancy.
I think it was the length of Nancy and Liam’s story that hurt it. I am so used to McKenna’s characters going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. They have something like 400 pages to get past their differences. It wasn’t like that here. It just felt too rushed.
The story of Nell and Duncan was definitely the best. Duncan is one of my favorite kind of heroes. The smart, silent type that is just naturally confused by women. He’s not malicious nor mean. He’s just Duncan. Nell has noticed Duncan since the day he started coming into the cafe she works at. He never notices her. When she replies to an employment ad, she’s shocked to find Duncan at the desk. Duncan is dismayed to see Nell as well. It was only that day that he finally noticed her (he doesn’t think “finally”) and decided that he was going to pursue her. This happened after they were first together. Probably my favorite part of the book.
“That was incredible,” he offered.
“Yes,” she agreed.
He was heartened. “I didn’t mean for things to happen so fast between us,” he said.
She stifled a soft, whispery giggle. “Me neither,” she murmured.
I looked like she wasn’t getting all emotional on him, thank God. Maybe she was a reasonable female. “Well, there’s no going back now.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, I think we’re on to something here. It’ll be complicated, but it’s worth it to me. Let’s go get some dinner and we can hammer out the details.”
“Details?” she repeated slowly.
“Yeah. Our mutually beneficial arrangement. It’ll need to be secret, for obvious reasons, but we can swing it. I’ll take you to my condo. We’ll order in. I’ll show you how beneficial it can be.”
What made it so funny is that he was completely serious. He wasn’t trying to hurt her. It was just great reading about him kind of bumbling around trying to figure out what the feelings were that Nell invoked in him.
The third and final sister: Vivi. At the request of Duncan, Vivi heads to Oregon where a former military buddy of his can watch over her until the mystery is unraveled. Jack and Vivi take an instant dislike to each other. Vivi is everything Jack has never wanted, yet he has never been so physically attracted to anyone. Vivi refuses to be someone she is not and is offended when Jack thinks he has her figured out so quick.
The suspense is obviously wrapped up by the end of the book. They whole mystery of why their mother was murdered wasn’t even that riveting. The villain, who seemed so villian-like at the beginning, really went downhill. Like into pathetic territory. I just found it laughable how a professional assassin would take a job so personal. It was just very non-McKenna like. Which is probably why I was so disappointed.
3 out of 5.
This book is available from Brava. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Have this book, but haven’t read it yet. Every time Shannon McKenna’s name comes up, I have to mention that I’m eagerly anticipating Kevin McCloud’s book. 🙂
Diana