Reviewer: Tracy Atone by Beth Yarnall
Series: Recovered Innocence #2
Also in this series: Vindicate, Reclaim (Recovered Innocence #3)
Publication Date: February 23rd 2016
Genres: Suspense
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Series Rating:
Six years. That’s how long I spent behind bars for a crime I didn’t commit—the murder of the woman I loved. Now I’m free, but life on the outside is a different kind of prison. I don’t know who I am or who I want to be. At least I have my sister, Cora. She never stopped believing in me. She even got me a job at the private investigation agency that cleared my name. And then Vera Swain walks into Nash Security and Investigations and kicks my world on its ass.
Vera: There’s only one thing that would make me come out of hiding after two years on the run: finding my sister. I made the mistake of telling a monster about her, the same monster who beat me and broke me. Now I’m forced to confide in Beau Hollis of Nash Security and Investigations. He looks at me like he knows me—the real me. He sees too much, makes me feel too much. The pleasure he offers is exciting and addictive. But I can’t fall for him . . . because my love could get us both killed.
Beau has been released after spending six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend – a crime he didn’t commit. In book one of this series his sister Cora worked relentlessly to get him exonerated and she succeeded. He’s not free but as is so common with former prisoners he’s finding being free difficult to handle. He’s not sure what his place is or what to do with himself now that he’s out and no one’s telling him what to do 24/7. His sister Cora got him a job working with her at the PI office she works at and the first day he’s there he meets the woman who will change his life.
Vera Swain walks into his place of work to hire the PI’s to find her sister. Beau knows immediately that something is hinky in her story but he doesn’t share his suspicions with his sister even though technically she’s his boss. He seeks out Vera in order to get the whole story – the one she didn’t share and he finds a woman who has a past like none other he’s ever heard of.
Beau is still hung up on his dead girlfriend but not for the reasons everyone thinks. The closer he gets to Vera from working with her the more he sees of the real woman behind the mask. He finds that no matter what her past is he loves her and will protect her from the bastard that put her through hell.
I liked book one in this series, Vindicate, but was really interested in Beau’s story when I saw that it was available for review. I wasn’t sure what to expect but what I got was so much better than anything I could have imagined.
The story centers around Vera Swain who was tricked by a man she thought she loved into living in hell. She escaped from him and that hell but now she thinks her sister is being played by the same man and she wants to save her sister before he can ruin her life. Vera was a woman on a mission and I had to admire her strength and determination. Seriously, when you read what she went through it’s hard to imagine that the woman is sane but she’s definitely all there. Meeting and falling for Beau is the last thing she expects but she finds it happens quite seamlessly which is kind of disturbing for her. She hadn’t let anyone in for the past two years so it was a bit of a shock.
Beau and Vera fit together so perfectly and I loved how Beth Yarnall got these two very different people who were heavily scarred inside to find each other. It was heart-wrenching but was beautiful. On top of the romance the suspense aspect of the story rocked and kept me on the edge of my seat.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romantic suspense read. Technically you don’t have to read book one in order to get book two but I would recommend you do. I got background on Beau and some details about the crime he was imprisoned for that weren’t available in book one. Those details helped me understand Beau better and made this book all the richer of a read.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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