Genres: Romantic Suspense

Ellis Greene remembers very little about the night of her cousin Laura’s murder, but she does recall the face of the murderer. Ellis was the key witness to the crime, and her testimony helped put Hollis Alexander in jail for a long time. With Hollis behind bars, Ellis should feel safe, but the memory of that awful night still haunts her. Determined to free herself from the fear of being attacked like her cousin, Ellis has become an expert in self defense. However, when Ellis hears that Hollis has been paroled, she feels like a helpless teenager again–and she isn’t the only one who notices that he’s free.

Laura’s boyfriend Nate was one of the prime suspects for her murder. After the court case, many still believed that Nate was guilty and he left town to reinvent himself. Now, fifteen years later, he has returned to protect Ellis from suffering the same fate as her cousin. As soon as Ellis and Nate see one another, sparks fly. But Ellis hasn’t let herself fall for a man in a long time, and she isn’t sure whether she can trust Nate. As Laura’s murderer zeroes in on Ellis as his next target, she must fight to stay alive while she finally discovers her true feelings about Nate.

Susan Crandall writes such good suspense, that I didn’t even care that the sex scenes were glossed over. I’m sure this will surprise Holly many of you, but I was completely blown away by who the villain ended up being. It’s only when I’m reading that I’m naive. I don’t think I would have ever made a good police officer.

Ellis Greene has basically lived her life in fear since the age of fourteen. Before I continue, I have to admit that I had a problem with the name Ellis for a woman. It took a good hundred pages for me to imagine Ellis as the heroine b/c I kept picturing a man anytime I read the name Ellis. Moving along…Ellis testified at the trial of the man that beat and raped her cousin Laura. She vividly remembers him mouthing the words “You’ll pay” to her when the verdict was read. She has tried to move on w/ her life as best as she can, but her road hasn’t been an easy one.

Nate Vance has always been protective of Ellis. Unbeknownst to her, he has kept tabs on her in the fifteen years since he left Belle Island. He never intended to return, or to be a part of Ellis’ life. When he gets the news that Hollis Alexander has been paroled, Nate heads back to Belle Island determined to protect Ellis like was unable to protect Laura. He never intents for Ellis to know he’s there, but fate obviously conspires against him and they meet face-to-face for the first time in fifteen years.

Ellis has always been halfway in love with Nate. Fifteen years before it was a young girl’s love. Now it’s a woman’s love. Ellis has always somewhat believed something in her was broken. When she broke up with her boyfriend after he proposed, she was sure of it. Then Nate comes back to town and she feels things that she never thought she’d feel.

I read Pitch Black and enjoyed it for the most part. I never really connected with the characters, but the plot was a good one. I connected much more with Ellis and Nate. After a life-altering experience, the course of Ellis’ life changed. I really admired Ellis as a woman. She felt like she cowered away from the world, but I saw it differently. She’s a survivor. She called herself a coward, but I would call her cautious.

The romance was there in this book, but the suspense was better. I have to say that it surprises me that I liked it that much, b/c I like the romance as much as the suspense in a romantic suspense. Crandall did a fantastic job of drawing me into this story. The only regret I have is that I didn’t pick it up before now.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Forever Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Genres: Romantic Suspense

A journalist and who adopted a troubled teen, Madison Wade has tackled many challenges—but never one like this. Leaving Philadelphia for a small town to give her son a better life, she’s now in a tightly knit community that won’t accept her big-city ways and Ethan’s less-than-perfect past. When finally, he’s invited on a camping trip, it turns into a nightmare – and Ethan is suspected of a violent crime.

Sheriff Gabe Wyatt doesn’t want to believe this kid is guilty. He’s falling in love with Ethan’s beautiful, sophisticated, and generous mother, the first woman who has ever awakened the tender side of this tough lawman. But he can’t ignore evidence, even if it keeps him from getting close to the woman he longs to protect, even if it drives this fierce mother to find the criminal herself. Then one terrible night, the villain will find her… and Maddie Wade will come face-to-face with her darkest fears.

I’ve generally enjoyed Susan Crandall’s books. Though they are light on the romance for my taste, they’re still very well written. That’s why I decided to try Pitch Black. Because, for me, light on the romance is okay (in some cases) when reading a romantic suspense. Of course, then the suspense aspect of the book needs to be that much better.

Madison Wade moved to Buckeye with the teen she adopted hoping to give him a fresh start. Madison has done her best with Ethan, navigating the minefield that is the teenage years has been anything but easy. She finally feels that they have made it to a place in their lives where they are both secure, if not happy. That all changes the weekend that Ethan and three other boys go on a camping trip, accompanied the stepfather of one of the boys.

Sheriff Gabe Wyatt has been trying to get to know Maddie better for months. She hasn’t made that easy, but Gabe was determined not to give up. Everything changes when Steve McPherson ends up dead, seemingly from a fall. The lack of physical evidence doesn’t convince Gabe that it was accidental and unfortunately all suspicion turns to Ethan Wade. In the past, Gabe would have zeroed in on Ethan himself, but he has a hard time believing that Ethan is capable of a seemingly motiveless murder.

I read this in a day. It’s a quick read w/ a pretty obvious villain. The author tries to keep the reader guessing, but the noticeable lack of other suspects makes it easy to figure out. That doesn’t mean this book wasn’t enjoyable, because it was. The suspense kept me turning the pages b/c what is so obvious to the read is not so obvious to the people of Buckeye. There was sexual tension between Maddie and Gabe, but it didn’t overshadow the suspense.

4 out of 5

This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.