I really liked this series. These are not the books I typically read, but liked the first one so much I read the other two. I love the character of Paige in this book! ( )

This was my first and last visit to the small town of Keeneston, Kentucky. The summary looked interesting and the rating was up there so I picked it up for one of my challenge books. I knew I was in trouble early on. Let's start with the very unrealistic characters.

Paige is a small town shopkeeper who designs hats and other accessories for women. She's also a too-good-to-be-true heroine who does everything perfectly...shooting, riding horses, administers first aid, drives like Daisy Duke, etc., etc. She takes a lunch break and walks toward the local diner to meet her friends when she sees a gun barrel appear on a roof across the street. Her mega-super vision sees the shooter's finger move to the trigger and she screams to warn her two friends who've just exited the courthouse, but it's too late. Instead of ducking for cover or running to check on her friends, she runs toward the shooter. Why? How in the world did she plan to stop him? Maybe she was going to sell him a hat to stall him, or dazzle him with her polka dot hair bow...who knows. By the time she caught up with him, I was too flabbergasted by the other characters that I no longer cared.

The shooter gets away and everyone gathers around the injured women. These people include, Sheriff Red, the Rose sisters-Violet, Lily and Daisy, and Deputy Dinky. No lie. Deputy Noodle and Deputy Smalls were securing the scene. The names in this book were just as rediculous as the dialogue, which was forced and awkward. The author needs to do a bit more research on hospital & law enforcement procedures as well. Every time I turned the page there was something bizarre to take me out of the story. At one point I laughed so hard at the stupidity that I had tears rolling down my face, especially during the scenes in the ER while Will and Mo (Mo's a sheik...for reals) hold vigil with Paige and Cole for their significant others. Here's an example:


"One of you Mr. Ashton?" the doctor asked as he pulled off the mask.

"I am." Will stepped forward, clearly worried.

"I am Dr. Kejewski. Your wife is awake and asking for you. She was shot through the shoulder. She was lucky. The bullet somehow missed all vital arteries and veins....."


Okay. She was shot with what I'm assuming is a high powered sniper rifle. It would have to be to cover that kind of distance. Her shoulder would be blown apart, but no...he makes it sound like she was shot with a precision laser beam that left a perfectly clean hole from one side to the other. The doctor goes on to answer questions about the other girl and then as he's leaving, stops abruptly and announces:


"Oh. Mr. Ashton, you don't need to worry. The baby is fine."

"Baby?" Will choked out.

The group stopped. No one moved. They all stared at Will.

"She's eight weeks along, didn't you know?" The doctor paused and looked at the stunned faces of the group. "Well obviously not by your reactions. The heart beat is strong. I don't think you have to worry abut a miscarriage."

Right. Like a doctor is going to make that kind of statement about the future, or announce private medical information to an entire waiting room of people. And hearing a fetal heartbeat is iffy that early on. There are more idiotic scenes, including one where the characters rifle magically becomes a gun, but my review is already long enough.

The book is one page after the other of cliche and overdone material. Cole's character was completely flat. I have no clue about who he is or what his past is all about. He just sort of "appeared." This is a series...shocking... so maybe that was covered in the first two books. If you're in a reading humdrum and just want to read a really disjointed, poorly thought out story, grab this and a quart of Ben & Jerry's. On the other hand, just skip the book and enjoy the ice cream with a bestseller that actually makes sense.



( )

This is the third book in the Bluegrass series. After reading the first book I bought the next two in this romantic suspense series. I enjoyed reading all the books. This on ties up the story of Kenna & Dani's New York experience along with letting us get better acquainted with Paige & Agent Cole. Now if we could just get more of Ahmed's story...

Paige Davies finds her world turned upside down as she becomes involved in her best friends' nightmare. The strong-willed Paige doesn't know which is worse: someone trying to kill her, or losing her dog to the man she loves to hate.

FBI Agent Cole Parker can't decide whether he should strangle or kiss this infuriating woman of his dreams. As he works the case of his career, he finds that love can be tougher than bringing down some of the most powerful men in America ( )