Blown Away

This is an exhilarating... romantic...and suspenseful thriller with a beleaguered heroine and a somehat misguided hero type who vows to keep her safe. The odd thing about his "devotion" is that he has no really direct reason to risk his life to do this. The story is loaded with action throughout and Sharon Sala fans will find plenty to enjoy with this thriller. I wish that Lance the hero had proved to be more the trustworthy type and less of the buffoon. He just didn't come across as what he turned out to actually be. Good read and worth 4.5 star rating.

Hmm. I wanted to like this more than I did; but I spent a large portion of the story thinking, "wow, would that even remotely happen" and "that doesn't make much sense" and "where's Scooby?" Also, the ending was just...I'm not sure. Cari obviously goads Lance into shooting himself; so why does Sala then make Cari a weeping damsel with no spine? Overall, this was more overblown soap opera than romantic suspense.

This one was okay. Not the best I've ever read but not the worst. I did enjoy the hero. He seemed a real southern gentleman and I liked the way he was all about caring for the heroine. They did fall in love awful fast, less than a week. I'm generally willing to buy love at first sight in a romance novel though I'm not sure I buy it in real life.

The biggest problem for me was that she didn't go to the police as soon as she woke up in the hospital and had a chance to think rationally. The level of suspense/danger didn't justify the whole going to your own funeral thing. It wasn't as if she were hiding from an evil crime lord whom she had to convince of her death. I can see her panicking at first and running but if she was such a hotshot show more mystery writer, I would think she would know that she probably had enough street cred with the local police that someone would have believed her. Especially since the missing person report turned up about 3 days later.

We also got very little if any description of the characters. I like to be able to visualize the characters better. I did like that the villian was a weak impulse driven man. I enjoy when the author makes the effort to make the villian something different from the typical serial killer or drug lord. So one of the best parts for me was seeing an ordinary but weak and indulged man break down. The author did a good job with the panic and wild plans of a non career criminal.

It looks like there will be 2 more books and there were 2 story lines which were not resolved so I'll probably read the next 2 to find out what happens. They will be out this summer so not a long wait. show less

Well written thriller. I love the way the tree books are connected and you get bits of each story in every book. They blend very nicely!

Cari is a really great character, she showed great strength in the face of a few really bad situations. Mike was a perfect match for her. They were a really dynamic pairing.

It was light on the steam. It is mainstream after all and more thriller than romance.

This book was just an average read for me. The first half of the book was very slow paced. It felt bogged down with so many meticulous details. By the time the action started it was barely holding my interest. I did enjoy the characters and felt they were well developed with the exception of the villain. He was made out to be very arrogant and self satisfying. I found it difficult to believe he would have figured out Cari's ruse so quickly. Cari's reaction to the dead body and subsequent death of her entire family was pretty far fetched. I would have bought hysterical crying, passing out, but hatching an elaborate scheme in order to avoid the revenge of her ex just didn't seem believable to me. I can't imagine any rational person show more thinking fraud would be a better choice than going to the police. Yes, they may have doubted her but she had to know someone would eventually miss the mystery man wrapped in the rug and when reported it would add weight to her claims. I think some will enjoy this one but it just wasn't the book for me. show less

Very good. It kept my attention and flowed well. One thing was left hanging and was not a vital part of story but still...if you write the people in and mention them multiple times in the book then I like to have that end tied up.