Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: The Ash Trilogy #1
Publication Date: October 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0345517531
Page Count: 387
A CRY IN THE WOODS
The scream Lena Riddle hears in the woods behind her house is enough to curdle her blood—she has no doubt that a woman is in real danger. Unfortunately, with no physical evidence, the local law officers in small-town Ash, Kentucky, dismiss her claim. But Lena knows what she heard—and it leaves her filled with fear and frustration.
Ezra King is on leave from the state police, but he can’t escape the guilty memories that haunt his dreams. When he sees Lena, he is immediately drawn to her. He aches to touch her—to be touched by her—but is he too burdened by his tragic past to get close? When Ezra hears her story of an unknown woman’s screams, his instincts tell him that Lena’s life is also at risk—and his desire to protect her is as fierce as his need to possess her.
REVIEW
This is book one of a trilogy, and the plot centres around a serial rapist/killer/bad bad man living in the small town of Ash, Kentucky, and the rest of its inhabitants. You should be made aware, I think, that you will not get a resolution to the mystery in this book; that is set to span the entire trilogy. I wasn't aware of it, I thought we'd get a separate mystery for each new couple, so I threw a little paddy when it finished with everything still up in the air. If I'd have known going in I think it would have helped, but, luckily, I at least already had all three books to hand. If I'd have had to wait for the next ones to be released? Well, let's not even go there...
But even with things unsolved you still get lots of glimpses and clues to whet your appetite. It's written third-person omniscient and we enter the mind of the killer and his victims at times which is more than a little disturbing. He's a real nasty one that's for sure. I'm pretty sure the killer is going to turn out to be a character we met in this book, but I don't have the first clue who it is at the moment. To be honest I had a bit of trouble keeping all the names straight in my head of all the secondary characters and the police and the victims. And then sometimes people would address a character by their surname (which naturally I'd forgotten) and I had no idea who they meant.
So it wasn't without a few hiccups but I did find the romance quite sweet. It took until way into the second half to get going but I enjoyed it once it did. Lena is a blind chef, fiercely independent. Ezra is a cop on leave after an 'incident', taking a time-out to see if he wants to remain in the job. I liked their interactions and how sweet Ezra was about Lena's blindness. He didn't coddle her which I, and she, appreciated. She manages to maintain a job as a chef after all, she doesn't need someone talking to her like she's not a full Shilling just because she can't see.
"He had the sexiest damn voice, Lena thought. Sexiest voice . . . and he was still staring at her, too.
She could tell, all but feel the warmth of his gaze. Feel it, almost like a ray of light traveling over her body, leaving seductive warmth in its wake."
So, all in all not a bad start, but not amazing either. I will move onto the next one to hopefully get at least a few more clues. I will work it out, I will! And I'm looking forward to Remy and Hope's story. I have a feeling it's going to be very 'Sleeping with the Enemy' in theme.
3 Stars! ★★★
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