A Hearts On Fire Review

THREE STARS--Riverbend is the second book in Tess Thompson's River Valley Collection. Annie is a thirty year old single mom with an abusive past. Her ex and father of her son, Marco is out of prison and has a vendetta against Annie. He's found her and he wants revenge. Annie has moved to a new state and small town of River Valley. She's reinvented herself as head chef of the town's new go to restaurant, Riversong. As Annie's getting more press, a new resident is cold, distant, rich and elusive, Drake. He's wealthy and recently built a big mansion on a cliff. But he has plans on being a recluse and wants his meals prepared weekly by Annie. And for $10,000 a month for cooking once a week, I was ready to bring my frying pan for the man. But the press that Annie's been getting has made her an easy target for Marco.

The story is promised as a suspenseful read and it was. Marco and Annie's rough beginning in the prologue set a strong distaste for him and hope for Annie. This woman went through some serious lengths to be rid of him. I wanted to high five her at this point because she was so brave. And she made it through...barely. And if she maintained this spunk throughout the book, I was so sure it was going to be an easy 5 star read.

Annie has her 10 year old son, Alder (I am not a fan of the name but he was a sweet kid) who she tries to protect. And the town of River Valley is truly a great supporting cast for the story and Annie. You know the saying 'It takes a village to raise a child'? Well they take that to heart in this book. The romance (oh there's romance but we'll get to that in a bit) took a back burner to the love of the town and wanting to make it a great thriving place for people to want to visit.

Plus there's so many secondary characters, it was beginning to become difficult with keeping track of them all including their professions. An example there's a paramedic/firefighter/singer/songwriter - a first for me - he's the star of book #1 of the series in case you're interested. And the characters loved to comment on the town's river which drew them into love or thought or hearing their name, it was kind of a reflective point. But I'm not feeling the way they were so now we're down to 4 stars.

It's a delicate balance romantic suspense (I've cut my reader's teeth on many of those once I began this genre) And this story was nice. Annie did lose her spunk in River Valley though a lot of this book. (She gained it back somewhat towards the last 10% of the book which is how I ended up with my rating) She's on the run from Marco. Why is she allowing herself to be included in the restaurant's publicity? She also has an eating disorder that was never fully explored. She said it was because she likes to have the control of not eating. And I get her using food for comfort for her depressing childhood. But if she has the wherewithal to set up Marco so she could leave him, what happened in the ten years since she left? She has the men of the town telling her she needs to eat, she uses her weight as a crutch to keep men away. I-I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

And Drake? He claims he's damaged goods. He has anxiety attacks, can't stand to be touched and is like ice to all. He takes Annie and Alder in his reclusive home to protect them. (read the book to find out why) He's secretive and has had some major tragedy in his past. It's easily guessed and is sad. He wants to be a hermit but he just can't seem to not be living in the town of River Valley and having Annie and Alder stay with them. So the ice man cracks and falls for Annie, as does Annie. And they have a HEA though their issues with insomnia, anxiety, eating, etc. are not as fully resolved as I would have liked them.

Some niggles of doubt for me: an error with Alder's age. His mother was two months pregnant with him in August 2003. The story begins Spring 2013 and Alder is stated as just turning 10...do you see the discrepancy with his age? He should have been 9 years old. It's a minor detail but I am a stickler for ages.

Another niggle, Drake sometimes spoke AT Annie instead of TO Annie. He would treat her like a child at times: the point where he told her what to wear to bed, I wasn't a fan. Drake is not necessarily who I would have chosen for Annie - he ran hot and then cold a lot due to the traumatic events in his life but he could be rude. He definitely was in the beginning of the book. By the end of the book, I tolerated him.

And the way nothing was done with Marco's actions during his harassment and stalking: Marco would leave harassing voice mails and even wrote a threatening letter once. Annie was told nothing could be done unless Marco did something to her. I thought the messages and letter was enough of a case and proof for violating parole, but maybe that's just me.

Was it a bad story? No. It was nice. The townsfolk...nice. Alder...nice. Annie and Drake together? *shrugs* I guess they're alright.

Will I read the next book? Erm...no. Bella, Drake's baby sister is the star of that one and she is a total TSTL heroine. I don't want to go down that path with her. (An example - she knows Annie is trying to hideout at her brother's and she gives her ex-lover the code to get into her's brother's compound...it's one of many things she did to piss me off) Annie might have visited the TSTL campus a couple of times but she did not reside there.

I think fans who enjoy mild romance, a big ensemble read and some suspense thrown in would best enjoy this book." ( )

Second in the River series. This time it's about the restaurant chef, Annie. Annie left an abusive boyfriend, Marco, when she was pregnant with Alder by planting meth on him, so he would be taken to jail. Now, 10 years later, he's been released and in a cat and mouse game, lets her know that he's looking for her. Newcomer to town, Drake, takes the family in to his fortress house. He's fighting his own demons - he didn't pay attention to the threats to his wife and child, and a psycho co-worker murdered them. So he's determined to protect Annie and Alder this time, with his life if necessary. ( )

I received this book as an Early Review copy from Librarything.

Annie Bell is a gourmet chef who lives in River Valley, Oregon. For the past 10 years she has done everything possible to maintain a low profile. She wants desperately to hide from her abusive ex-husband and to protect her 10 year old son. Unfortunately the success of her restaurant has attracted the attention of the media and a newspaper article about her success has also helped Marco locate her. Now she has to figure out how and where to hide.

The answer comes unexpectedly in the form of reclusive Drake Webber, a wealthy man who has his own secrets to hide and his own past to overcome. Webber offers to allow Annie and her son to live in his fortress of a house until her ex can be located and she is once again safe to live on her own. In exchange, Annie does the cooking for him. He only asks her to respect his privacy. Drake’s desire to keep Annie safe slowly overcomes his own need for privacy. He begins to involve himself with her son and even finds himself being embraced by her friends.

With a wonderful cast of quirky characters, Riverbend is both entertaining and absorbing. It is touching to see the romance slowly build between Annie and Drake, as they put aside their fears and find they can love again. ( )

Riverbend is the story of Annie who creates for herself and her son a new life in the town of Riverbend. Annie is a chef at the local restaurant with a great set of friends. She has done well for herself and her son, Alder, after escaping from an abusive relationship.

the restaurant's success is her downfall - her ex has found her and has promised to pay her back. At the same time Annie is hired to cook for a recluse who has just moved into town.

A light and easy read. I enjoyed the book and the romance in it. Characters were interesting but a little flat. ( )

Annie fled from her abusive husband when she first found out she was pregnant with Adler. Ten years later, Adler is a precocious ten year old, and Annie is a successful chef in River Valley, a small Oregon town. Drake Webber has enticed Annie to cook meals for him on her day off, though she doesn't really like him. The money is just too good to pass up. At the same time, her success as a chef has been featured in an article in a well-known food magazine, which led her ex-husband to River Valley. He lets her know that he plans to stalk and terrorize and, eventually to kill her.

The book was fairly well written, though the characters could have been better developed. Drake especially seemed lacking in depth, as he struggled to accept and come to terms with the loss of his wife and child. Although he was cast as a hero in the book, he didn't seem to be a very likable person. Overall, I enjoyed the book and it held my interest throughout. If the characters were better developed, I would have given the book a higher rating.

I was provided a copy of the book in return for an honest review. ( )