Reviewer: Tracy Cold Sweat by J.S. Marlo
Series: Heart & Endurance #1
Publication Date: February 6th 2017
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 204
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Can they conquer the mountains and the past in time to save Hope?
***
Seventeen-year-old Hope Craig is deaf and training hard to make the biathlon Olympic Team. But when she is kidnapped from the groomed trails and taken into a remote cabin in the mountains, she must battle more than the elements to survive.
On the hunt for her daughter's abductor, Colonel Amelia Matheson enlists the help of Richmond Morgan, a local sheriff who once hurt her. To find Hope, Sheriff Morgan and Colonel Matheson must untangle a web of secrets, including their own.
Using her wits and skills, Hope sets out to escape the mountains and save the man her mother had sent to rescue her—a man who is not who he appears to be.
Hope Craig is kidnapped while doing her biathlon training. Her mother is in the Army and is using all of her resources to find her daughter. When she walks into the local Sheriff station she’s shocked to find her old college boyfriend, Rich Morgan, is the Sheriff.
Rich and Amelia broke up when Amelia graduated. They had been dating but his rich, snobby parents didn’t like her and gave him an ultimatum – money or Amelia. He chose the money. He regretted his decision immediately but still didn’t go after Amelia. He is a different man now than he was then and has changed his thinking and basically cut ties to his parents. He’s thrilled to see Amelia again even though it’s under horrifying circumstances. He never stopped loving her and as hard as Amelia tries to deny it, she never stopped loving him either.
Rich works Hope’s case with Amelia but also another one with a local Senator. When the two cases start to intersect Rich is shocked when all the evidence in both cases are exposed. There are many secrets that are revealed and ones that will change everyone’s lives.
This was a good little mystery/romance. I liked the characters in the story, even though I never really got that close with Amelia or Rich. I did like their background story and all the secrets that were revealed, I just couldn’t get into the two of them.
Hope was a little fighter and I loved her character. I wish that we had gotten to spend more time with her during the course of the story. I also liked how the author twisted and bent the story so that three different cases were brought together into one. I actually think I would have enjoyed this better as a straight mystery without bringing the romantic element into it. I just found that part lacking.
The end was…odd, imho. Rich and Amelia were on the road to something good but it was rushed in the end and again the romance left me unsatisfied. If you’re looking for a mystery with romantic elements than this might be a good book for you, but not if you’re looking for a romance with a bit of mystery – at least in my opinion.
Rating: 3.5/3.75 out of 5