About the Books
Harper Cloud used to love the gilded glamour of Las Vegas, but on the far side of prison, she sees the cracks in the veneer. These days, she keeps her head down and focuses on the elderly patients in her care. Even her new wealthy east-coast boyfriend, Derrick, can’t entice her away. She’s trusted men before, and look where that got her.
She tries to brush off the feeling that she’s being watched. But when she’s followed home one night and her pursuer gets within a hair’s breadth of grabbing her, she knows it’s time to get away from Las Vegas.
Maybe Derrick can be trusted. Maybe his job offer—to care for his aging grandfather in Maryland—will be the second chance she needs.
But Derrick has secrets of his own, secrets that could take him down–and take Harper with him.
Can there be a second chance for someone like her?
Nutfield, New Hampshire, is as good a place as any to hide from the murderer Harper left behind in Maryland. All she has to do is lie low and make enough money to keep herself and Red alive until she can figure out who her enemies are.
Jack Rossi isn’t sure what to make of his beautiful new tenant and her confused grandfather. Something’s not right, but the love he sees between them and the care she takes of the old man convinces Jack they’re trustworthy. As drawn as he is to Harper, she’s his tenant, so she’s off limits.
Derrick, Harper’s ex-boyfriend and Red’s grandson, needs to find his grandfather and get his hands on the old man’s money before Derrick ends up with a bullet in the skull. And when he gets his hands on Harper, she’ll be sorry for what she’s put him through.
Harper and Jack grow closer, but so do her enemies. If Harper can’t trust Jack with the truth, she may lose more than just this glimpse of true love. She may lose her freedom—or her life.
The last thing Harper wants is to do is return Maryland to face the police and explain the mess she left behind, but with Red safe and the authorities waiting, she has little choice. At least Jack didn’t abandon her, even after he discovered her lies.
Now that Jack knows the truth about Harper, his feelings for her are deeper than ever. Jack isn’t about to leave her side, and he’ll protect her from anybody who tries to hurt her–or die trying.
But Derrick is on their trail, and he’s the least of their problems. How can they battle both Derrick and the killer who hides in the shadows?
Excerpt
(Taken from Beauty in Hiding)
Of course it was raining.
And not merely raining. Harper had been white-knuckling the steering wheel of her used VW Jetta through an absolute deluge since Rhode Island. Visibility had been practically nonexistent on the interstate. After she’d exited onto the state highway that brought her to Nutfield, thanks to the lack of street lights, visibility had been no farther than a few feet in front of her car.
The constant swish-swish of the wipers was the only sound as she stopped at a T in the road. The area was deserted. Maybe that was normal in a little town for a Monday night at eight-thirty. She had no idea. She’d never lived anywhere this far off the beaten path.
She consulted her phone to check the map, but her navigation software was trying—and failing—to figure out where she was. Shocking that a fifty-dollar pay-as-you-go phone from the convenience store didn’t work properly.
Fortunately, she’d studied the map enough at the last stop that she sort of knew where she was going. Sort of.
She glanced at Red, the elderly man in her care. His eyes were wide with worry, and she didn’t blame him. He’d had a very difficult few days. Both of them had, but they’d survived this long. She’d keep Red safe even if it killed her.
Which it very well might.
Review
Despite being disappointed with the first book in this series, this series ended up being a great romantic suspense read. My thoughts on each of the books in the series are below:
Beauty in Flight
This first instalment left me feeling a bit ambivalent about the series. It felt hollow, and in hindsight, that’s because it’s essentially backstory for the following two books. There was a sense of anticipation in that I could feel things building to a point, but it lacked the tension it needed to really suck me in the way the subsequent two books in the series did. A lot of the writing was also ‘on the nose’—perhaps in an effort to make more of the little tension that was there. That said, the book does deliver quite a climax at the end, it’s a relatively quick read, and it sets up the rest of the series—which, as I’ve already said, was a great read.
Beauty in Hiding
This is the kind of story I was expecting! Everything that I felt was missing from the first book in the series was here in spades, but especially the tension.
Jack is a fantastic character. He has no idea what he’s getting into when he helps Harper and Red settle into his rental home, but I love that he doesn’t jump to conclusions or immediately write them off when it’s obvious Harper is hiding things. The romantic tension between Jack and Harper was perfectly calibrated and constantly pulled against the tension of exactly how and when the pieces of Harper’s story would start falling apart and what Jack would make of them.
I don’t always like having the “bad guy” as a point-of-view character, but it worked well in this case. Not only did it add the tension of how and when Derrick would find Harper, but the reader gets to see his increasing desperation, which was important for his escalating actions to be believable.
Basically, once I’d picked this story up, I didn’t really want to put it down. In fact, I was originally going to wait before reading the last one in the series (because I like to switch up genres), but I had to dive straight in and ended up finishing them both in the one day!
Beauty in Battle
What a tension-filled ending to the series! This book continued in the same vein as the previous one—tight writing, strong suspense, great characterisation. I love how steadfast Jack is in his support of Harper, but even more than that, I love that there is a rational foundation for his support, because Harper’s current actions speak to her true character more than the details of her past.
Derrick’s point-of-view is present again, which adds to the tension and allows the reader to see his escalating desperation, but even with all that, there were some surprises saved up for the end.
And speaking of the end, I loved the one here. It brought Harper’s journey to the best possible close, and while the reader won’t be preached at, there is a wonderful message of grace and restoration in Harper’s journey throughout the series. She’s only a young Christian, but even so, believing in God’s grace and forgiveness doesn’t erase the details of her past or give her any confidence that others will see beyond her past to the person she is trying to become. Robin Patchen did a great job of bringing that conflict out in Harper’s characterisation and the story’s plot.
Even taking into account my disappointment with the first book, romantic suspense fans will find plenty of satisfaction in this series.
I received a copy of this novel from the author. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
About the Author
Robin Patchen writes contemporary Christian suspense, romance, and romantic suspense. Her books are often set in New England, where she grew up. She creates strong, protective heroes and intelligent, courageous heroines.
For a free book, join her newsletter at robinpatchen.com/AmazonFree.
Aside from her family and her Savior, Robin Patchen has two loves—writing and traveling. If she could combine them, she’d spend a lot of time sitting in front of her laptop at sidewalk cafes and ski lodges and beachside burger joints. She’d visit every place in the entire world—twice, if possible—and craft stories and tell people about her Savior. Alas, time is too short and money is too scarce for Robin to traipse all over the globe, even if her husband and kids wanted to go with her. So she stays in Oklahoma, shares the Good News when she can, and writes to illustrate the unending grace of God through the power and magic of story.
Leave a Reply