July 2021 TBR Challenge – Secrets and Lies
With a TBR Challenge prompt like “Secrets and Lies”, we couldn’t help but dig into the romantic suspense side of our respective TBR queues. Lynn came up with an inspy romantic suspense that had an unusual setup, while Caz went for a m/m romantic suspense with a plot that had plenty of twists and turns to it.
Dangerous Deception by Evelyn M. Hill
I love romantic suspense, so “secrets and lies” was a perfect prompt for me. I went digging through my category romances and came up with one that has a rather unusual twist. I’ve dealt with books that have big secrets or people living double lives, but could your whole life be a lie without you realizing it? That’s the premise of Dangerous Deception.
Rachel Garrett appears content with her life in small town Oregon. She works at a coffee shop in Sleepy Cove. It’s the kind of town where everyone seems to know everyone – and Rachel’s friends are all loyal and protective of her. Rachel suffered a terrible car accident some months prior to the main action of the story, but her friends have helped her get back on her feet.
Rachel’s peace is interrupted by a mysterious man she has seen standing outside and watching the coffee shop. One day he is able to speak to her, and tells her that her entire life is a lie. He calls her by another name and tells her that everything she thinks she knows about her past is completely made up. This part of the story drew me right in because Rachel’s uneasiness over this stranger’s claims felt very real. Like most people, she felt sure of who she was but she also can’t help being curious. And because she’s curious, she starts digging.
The book starts off strong. While there are some things about Rachel’s life that feel a little bit off, the story is full of believable details about her backstory. Rachel has a cozy apartment, with a few mementos of her earlier life, such as her childhood Bible. Sure, Rachel’s boss and BFF seems a little overprotective, but then again, Rachel lost her parents as a child and she herself had a bad car accident some time ago. Her life seems to make sense and yet she cannot help but want to figure out what is going on with this mysterious Michael Sullivan who keeps telling her that he thinks she is someone else.
After the opening chapters, the action in this book starts to pick up. The author throws in clues about what might be going on and I did guess at parts of the story, but she does do a good job of doling out hints gradually throughout the book. The evil plotting is a bit far fetched, but it was interesting reading, and I largely enjoyed myself.
This book is published by Harlequin’s inspirational line, although the religious content in this one is fairly light. Mention is made of the heroine having an old childhood Bible and there are a few instances where she prays when she is in danger. However, this is not a novel I would describe as preachy.
While I enjoyed the suspense plotting in this novel, it’s a little light on the romance. There’s a little bit of insta-love going on here, and the romance feels somewhat rushed. On the one hand, one can completely understand why Rachel initially feels wary around Michael. When you’re trying to figure out if some or all of your life is a big, elaborate scam, that understandably messes with your ability to relate to other people. However, the mutual discovery by both parties that they really do love each other does seem to just burst into being and it makes the ending of the story feel somewhat abrupt.
Dangerous Deception is an unusual suspense read, and a nice change from the paramilitary units, police dogs and other mainstays of recent romantic suspense novels. This almost gothic tale of secrets and buried truths made for an interesting afternoon of reading, though I do wish that the romance had been fleshed out a bit more.
Grade: B- Sensuality: Kisses
~ Lynn Spencer
Buy it at Amazon or your local independent retailer
The Murder Between Us by Tal Bauer
With a prompt like “Secrets and Lies”, my mind immediately flew to romantic suspense and a book I’ve wanted to read for a while but, as usual, haven’t managed to squeeze in yet. Tal Bauer’s The Murder Between Us boasts a couple of well-drawn and engaging protagonists, an intriguing plot and provides the sort of balance between romance and plot I’ve been missing in so many of the m/f romantic suspense titles I’ve read recently.
Special Agent Noah Downing has been struggling with his sexual identity for many years. He thinks he’s gay but has never felt able to explore that side of himself and has instead filled his life with work and, since his divorce, looking after his teenage daughter Katie, who has recently come to live with him. When the book opens, he’s decided it’s finally time to give himself permission to be himself, even if it’s just for one night; he ventures to the bar of the hotel he’s staying in with a view to… well, he doesn’t really know what, and is about to leave when his eye is caught by an attractive blond man who makes his way over and offers to buy him a drink. He introduces himself as Cole, they start chatting and Noah is surprised at how comfortable he feels and how much he enjoys Cole’s company. There’s a lot of chemistry and a definite sense of connection between them right from the start, and after the best evening out Noah has had in a long time – maybe ever – they spend a wonderful, passionate night together that answers all Noah’s questions about his sexuality.
They arrange to have dinner together the next night, but not long after Noah gets back to his room in the morning, he’s called back home to Des Moines and he leaves straight away – without stopping to call Cole and tell him why he can’t make their dinner date.
The reason for Noah’s abrupt departure is the brutal murder of the Sheriff of Boone County and his daughter by the same person believed responsible for the deaths of a number of bright, accomplished young female college and university students several years before. Noah led the task force charged with apprehending the Coed Killer, but whoever it was took care to leave no clues and no forensics – then disappeared without a trace and was never caught. But it appears that after a gap of six years, the Coed Killer is back – and this time, not only is he targeting young female college students, he’s killing their fathers too. Noah makes his way to the home of Bart Olsen and his daughter Jessie, where it appears Jessie was strangled and then her father was killed as he tried to intervene. As if the murder of a fellow LEO isn’t bad enough, the Olsens aren’t the only victims of the newly returned serial killer. Three months earlier, another young woman was strangled in her home, and although at the time, it was believed her obsessive boyfriend was responsible, Noah now believes her to have been another victim of the Coed Killer. He knows the pressure to catch them is going to be intense – his boss instructs him to get a task force up and running and Noah asks him to request a profiler form the BAU – “the best profiler they’ve got.”
Dr. Cole Kennedy is still smarting over Noah’s non-appearance the day after their fantastic night together, and is starting to think that maybe the intensity of the desire he’d seen in Noah’s eyes had been more for the experience Cole offered him than for Cole himself. It’s been quite some time since a guy has got so under his skin so quickly and he’d really wanted the chance to explore their connection further – even if it had been just dinner and no more. But Noah made his feelings quite clear by blowing him off so rudely, and Cole has to forget him. Which only makes the irony of his being headed to join a task force in Noah’s home state that much richer.
Well, yes, we all knew where this was going, but the ‘oh, shit’ moment is nicely done.
Both men have to work to hide their shock when Cole walks into the conference room where Noah’s team is assembled. Noah is obviously scared of being outed and does everything he can to keep Cole at a distance, and while Cole realises why Noah is being so stand-offish, he’s also angry at the way Noah treated him, and wants answers – and I can’t say that I blamed him.
Fortunately however, this stalemate doesn’t last for too long, and the men manage to find the opportunity to talk about what happened. Noah doesn’t have a great reason for not calling Cole the day he left, but they talk it out, and decide they’d like to try to see more of each other while Cole is in town, but they’ll take it slow and maybe Cole can help Noah through coming out if that’s what he wants to do.
I liked the fact that the book focuses on the relationship before the suspense plot comes into play, as it really helps the reader to get a handle on Noah’s character in particular. His yearning to be able to live as his true self is palpable, but the reasons hemming him in aren’t easily dealt with, from his concern that he could lose custody of his daughter to worry about how his colleagues would treat him if they knew he was gay. He’s a bag of nerves and a bit highly-strung at times (!), but thankfully Cole is there to ground him; he knows who he is and is secure in himself both personally and professionally, he’s kind and perceptive and it’s clear from the start that he really cares about Noah and wants him to be happy. If I have a criticism about the romance it’s that it’s a bit reliant on insta-love in the way these two fall head-over-heels for each other so quickly, but somehow the author makes it work.
The suspense plot is tense and well-paced, with plenty of twists and turns and a bit of gruesome detail here and there (no worse than you’ll find in most novels of this type, though). As with the romance, I had a niggle or two – at one point I did have to wonder if Cole really was “the best profiler” the FBI had because he missed something I thought was obvious (and I’m rubbish at working out whodunit!) – but even so, I was completely hooked by the story as a whole and couldn’t put the book down, so I’m inclined to be forgiving ;)
The Murder Between Us delivered pretty much everything I want in a romantic suspense novel; an interesting mystery, strongly characterised protagonists and a romance with plenty of sparks and sexual chemistry. Yes, there were a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me, but overall, it was a compelling read, and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into the sequel, The Grave Between Us, as soon as I can.
Grade: B+ Sensuality: Warm
~ Caz Owens
I have really enjoyed all the Tai Bauer books I have read. I think you will like The Grave Between Us just as much, Caz. The first book leans a little more on development of Noah’s character. The second book delves deeper into Cole’s background and is just as suspenseful as the first. I hope he writes more in this series!
Yes, this one definitely focuses more on Noah and we don’t know as much about Cole, so I’m really looking forward to the next one!
Tal Bauer is a new name to me and Caz and Majari, you both make this sound like a great read. I’m in!
I just discovered Tai Bauer this year. He has published four (!) books this year, of which my favorite was The Night Of. He writes M/M and almost all romantic suspense, although he wrote a NA novel called The Jock this year that I loved. I enjoyed his Enemies of the State series, which follows the same couple through several books, but haven’t read the rest of his backlog. I read an article recently where author Lily Morton listed him as one of the authors she really likes and consider that high praise as I also adore her books.
I read that Lily Morton article too. I was pleased/surprised that she also named Gregory Ashe as one of her favourite authors!
Tal Bauer is new to me, but looks like one for me to try.
He’s been on my radar for quite some time but as is always the case with me, finding time to read or listen to books that aren’t on my “reviewing schedule” is hard. One of the things I like about the TBR Challenge is that it gives me a chance to slot in a dozen books a year I might not have got around to otherwise
And his earlier books are quite long! The ones released this year are a much more manageable length.
Lynn, your read sounds right up my alley! I have never been one for Harlequin’s contemporary inspirational lines, but I think SuperWendy put it best when she said LoveInspired Suspense basically romantic suspense without a lot of unnecessary sex, LOL. Its also supposed to be pretty light on the God stuff, at least comparatively. That’s what made me decide to try this line. I’ve got a couple of books from this line on Mount TBR to try, and this one will definitely be added to the pile.
I’m not big on secrets and lies, and none of my LIRS books seemed to fit the bill, so I dug deep into Mount TBR and came up with Claiming His Brother’s Baby by Helen Lacey, a Harlequin Special Edition from 2015. It’s basically the story of one brother (Tanner) cleaning up another (Doug)’s messes, which unfortunately includes a baby Doug never intended to care for, even if he’d lived. I loved Tanner – we’re talking Book Boyfriend material, even with all of his issues – but the heroine (Cassie) was an idiot. She put Doug on a pedestal, and even after learning about all the awful things he’d done to Tanner (and these were some truly awful things), the one thing she decided to take umbrage with was kinda the dumbest one of the bunch. It was so obviously in service to the plot (to break the H/h up for a late third act reconciliation) that it made me angry. Even the heroine’s friends were like, “seriously, this is the hill you want to die on??” She had to do some groveling in the end, but it was a little too late for me. The hero, of course, was more understanding. I guess it helps when its your first love and you already know you have amazing sexual chemistry, LOL.
I think I’ll have better luck next month, because I have a lot of backlists for favorite authors on Mount TBR, haha.
Hopefully you find a winner in the backlist next go round!
I’ve read a fair number of Love Inspired books. In terms of religious content, they tend to be all over the map, though most are fairly light on it and the books don’t tend to feel distinctly evangelical in the way that some from ECPA publishers do.
I don’t mind inspirational novels (I read a lot of them when I was younger, because I am a SUCKER for historical sagas and that was where it was at in the 90s, LOL), but I tend to shy away from contemporary stories because I’m not here for judgment or to be preached at. I wasn’t sure how inspirational would mix with romantic suspense, but I trust Wendy’s judgment, so when she mentioned that in one of her reviews, something just clicked for me. I hate when protagonists in a suspense novel take time out to have sex for basically no other reason than it’s required for them to have an on-page sex scene, LOL, or when unnecessary romantic plots are foisted into suspense or thrillers Just Because. Sort of like how tacking on a mystery in HR gets really old, really fast.
I’m sure I’ll have better luck next month because I save up my favorite authors’ backlists to savor them. My favorites are my favorites because they tend to deliver for me no matter what they turn their hand to :)
That’s good to know about Love Inspired Suspense. I have one sitting on my shelf that I checked out at the library because the plot sounded interesting. Generally, I strongly prefer secular work, but it sounds like I might be in for a treat.
If you’re jumping on the Love Inspired Suspense bandwagon, be on the lookout for two limited edition lines coming out from Harlequin this October and December respectively: Love Inspired Mountain Rescue and Inspirational Cold Case Collection. I saw the announcement ages ago and thought they scrapped the project, but read about it again the other day on Harlequin’s blog in a roundabout way. Happy reading!
Here’s the review from Wendy that I referenced in the above post. It definitely made me give the line a second look. They do seem have the pick of the bunch as far as unusual/refreshing plots go, and stand-alone titles. I’m not really a big fan of teams of secret agents, spies, or military units, and I have no idea where to even begin with the Colton series
Hope you enjoy the LIRS you picked!
I buy new Harlequins practically every month (when you prefer print, you gotta grab ’em while you can), not only for my favorite authors but because they tend to have a pretty strong stable of writers across all their lines, so I’m more willing to take a chance on a new-to-me author from them than I am from other houses. I look at all of the blurbs every month and pick what sounds interesting or unusual. I finally picked up an Intrigue title this month that sounded promising, after years of grumping about how their blurbs always sound super-cringey or contain my personal DNW tropes, LOL. You never know what you may find!
I did, actually! It was Undercover Jeopardy by Kathleen Tailer, a story about an FBI agent heroine who is forced to participate in a bank robbery/hostage situation in order to maintain her cover while infiltrating a domestic terrorist group. The hero, her ex-boyfriend, is a private investigator who ends up assisting her investigative efforts.
It wasn’t a perfect story by any means. There were a couple of unresolved plot points and minor factual errors such as not removing bandages to look at a wound. That’s pretty much basic first aid training than an FBI agent should know. Also, it should be a requirement for a romantic suspense author to know the difference between a magazine and a clip. But that’s me being nitpicky for what was an overall fun, interesting story. It kind of reminded me of a made-for-TV movie in a good way: relatively clean, straightforward, and engaging. Seriously, Harlequin Romantic Suspense needs to take some notes.
Thanks for putting up that review. Wendy’s term “danger banging” had me laughing and nodding.