Title: Ruby Jane
Author: Susan May Warren
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: #5 The Montana Marshalls
Publisher: SDG Publishing
Release date: 26 November 2019
Pages: 325
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About the Book
She loved…and lost.
Ruby Jane never thought she’d meet the man of her dreams while running from the police in Russia. That he’d steal her heart on a train to Siberia. But loving a former CIA officer comes with a price…a life of danger. A life of high stakes.
A life where he simply disappears…
He has no memory of the man he was.
Mack Jones has no memory of his past…just the dark sense that he is hiding. And, he wants to stay that way. Mack likes the life he’s built in a small tourist town, tucked away beyond the mountains, and has no desire to dig around in the gray areas of his memory.
When his place of business catches fire and Mack rescues the owner, he makes the news, which of course alerts the past he’s hoping to outrun.
The only person who can help him is a mysterious woman he doesn’t remember.
But a woman he desperately needs.
The surprising, thrilling conclusion to the Montana Marshalls series.
Excerpt
Aw, York just knew this would happen.
Knew he should never have come home. Knew that if he set foot back in America, he’d end up in the back seat of a covert CIA SUV, winding through the back hills of Washington State with a guy who had probably figured out that York knew his secrets.
A guy who wasn’t going to slow down to question him, but rather was simply searching for a good place to dump a body.
York’s body.
Ex-CIA agent York Newgate hadn’t imagined exactly this scenario—the one where he left behind the woman he loved, where he never really got to say goodbye, where somehow the happy ending he’d grasped for a wonderful, disbelieving second slipped through his fingers—but he had known, without a doubt, that the CIA would find him.
After all, he knew their tricks.
Knew they were tenacious. And that the driver, former officer Alan Martin, dressed in a suit, with close-clipped dark hair and a pair of aviator glasses, had no intention of “questioning him down at headquarters.”
Liars, all of them.
And York had been one of the very best.
Maybe he deserved this.
“So, taking the shortcut back to DC?” he said now, his knees jammed into the passenger seat in front of him.
Martin glanced at him over his shoulder, not even allowing a smirk at York’s attempt to point out the obvious—they were traveling down a remote highway in the middle of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
“I saw a great hike to Bridal Falls a couple miles back. Maybe we should go stretch our legs?” York said.
No response.
They’d flex-cuffed his hands behind him, but he could get out of that easily enough. He just needed them to slow down. Last thing he wanted was to take a header off the side of the road, end up in a metal crumble at the bottom of the mountain.
But maybe that would be better than what Martin had planned for him.
Review
Well, stick my heart in a vice and screw it up tight! This whole series has been fantastic, but Susan May Warren really pulled out all the stops in this final instalment. It’s everything you love about romantic suspense, but on steroids! For a while there, I wondered if my heart could handle it (hence my opening line).
First up, this is definitely a series you need to read in order. Don’t even think about picking this book up unless you’ve read the previous four books in the series. Once you start, you’ll be hooked anyway, so reading the whole series will basically be a foregone conclusion.
Second, I can’t tell you why my heart felt like it was in a vice, because I don’t do spoilers, but AAAAAHHHHH! York was killing me! He’s been my favourite character of the series since the moment he stormed onto the page, and considering all that had happened between York and RJ in this series already, I wondered what was left for them in this book. Well! Never underestimate an author like Susan May Warren, that’s all I can say!
Glo and Tate are back as POV characters too, as all the threads running through this series begin to draw together. Most intriguing is the fact that one particular thread has been left dangling—perhaps tantalising readers in the leadup to the release of the first book in her new series, coming January 2020, The Way of the Brave? But don’t worry, you’ll still feel totally satisfied with the ending of Ruby Jane.
Whether you’re looking for high-stakes suspense, heart-pounding romance, or soul-searching spiritual growth—or even all three—this book delivers. This whole series delivers!
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.
Previous Books in the Series
About the Author
Growing up in Minneapolis and attending the U of MN, I learned to love city life, although I’m a woodsy girl at heart. Or maybe I’m an adventurer — having lived and traveled all over the world, including Siberia, Russia as a missionary for eight years. Probably that’s why my characters can’t sit still, and seem to get into one scrape after another — they’re too much like me! I love God, my family, my country, my church, and feel privileged every day to be able to write stories.
Here’s my “Official” Bio.
With over 1 million books sold, critically acclaimed novelist Susan May Warren is the Christy, RITA and Carol award-winning author of over forty-five novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill, and Summerside Press. Known for her compelling plots and unforgettable characters, Susan has written contemporary and historical romances, romantic-suspense, thrillers, rom-com and Christmas novellas.
With books translated into eight languages, many of her novels have been ECPA and CBA bestsellers, were chosen as Top Picks by Romantic Times, and have won the RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice contest and the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year award. She’s a three time RITA finalist and an eight time Christy Finalist.
Of her books, Publisher’s Weekly has written, “Warren lays bare her characters’ human frailties, including fear, grief, and resentment, as openly as she details their virtues of love, devotion, and resiliency. She has crafted an engaging tale of romance, rivalry, and the power of forgiveness.”
And Library Journal adds, “Warren’s characters are well-developed and she knows how to create a first rate contemporary romance…”
Susan is also a nationally acclaimed writing coach, teaching at conferences around the nation and winner of the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Mentor of the Year award. She loves to help people launch their writing careers and is the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com and www.LearnHowtoWriteaNovel.com, a writing website that helps authors get published and stay published. She’s also the author of the popular writing method, The Story Equation.
Connect with Susan: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Excellent review, Katie! I’m excited to read this series!
It’s soooooo good, Caryl!