Landry Hutton has spent three years rebuilding her life behind the secure gates of The Haven, an exclusive resort on the outskirts of Gossamer Falls, North Carolina. After serving as the artist-in-residence, Landry is finally ready to settle in permanently to give her daughter, Eliza, a safe home in which to grow up.
Former Marine Callum Shaw always knew he would someday join his family's construction business in Gossamer Falls. He longs for a family of his own but has almost given up on that ever happening. The beautiful artist who has hired him to build her new house is funny, gifted, and everything Cal could ever want in a partner, but he vows to keep his distance. He's loved--and lost--someone like her before.
When Landry's pottery is destroyed in a suspicious fire, it becomes clear that Landry and Eliza are in grave danger--but from whom? Cal will have to risk his heart again if he has any hope of protecting them.
My review:
Blackburn has written two great series, and if this book is any indication, is going to come off with a third great series.
This series is different from her other two already. The other two series were about teams of people. The Dive Team Investigations Series was about a team of crime solving divers. The Defend and Protect Series was about Secret Service Agents. Gossamer Falls is about family. A lot of family.
It took me a while to figure out who was related and how, but the author put a handy family tree in the front of the book that helped.
Until the more climatic parts toward the end of the book, most of the suspense is a slow build with property destructions and threatening notes. No high speed chases and guns blazing.
But that doesn't mean the book is not exciting and suspenseful. It is. And the author picked a great setting for the series, along with a host of great characters. At the forefront are the main characters, of course: Callum, brokenhearted and determined to never date another single mother ever again, Landy, single mother of Eliza, and very determined to never date ever again, 5 year old Eliza, and lastly Maisy....a cocker spaniel who I liked despite my aversion to dogs.
There are other great and likable characters throughout the book: Callum's brothers and cousins and other family, Gray, Callum's best friend and the law enforcement in the town, Bronwyn, and more. Blackburn combined all these people with a great plot and setting, tossed in a bad guy with his bad deeds and intentions, blended it well, and came off with an awesome romantic suspense novel that deserves more than the allotted 5 stars.
And the part you know is coming.....when the bad guy finally makes the big play that always happens. Wow. Callum, Landry, and Eliza all three are targeted.
I will admit I wasn't drawn into the story immediately. The first two chapters didn't grab me, and I set it aside for a few days. But I know what kind of author Blackburn is, so I picked it up again on my day off, and chapter 3 hooked me. I wasn't very far into the book before I fell in love with the characters, and was cheering for their safety and hoping for their relationship.
If the author doesn't make it obvious, I like to guess who the other books in a series will be about. Landry has no siblings, and Callum's two brothers are married. There seems to be something there with his cousin Meredith and his best friend Gray........and there WAS something with his cousin Mo and Bronwyn....so I am guessing the other two books will be about his two cousins. We will see.
Special thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.
About the author:
Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy Southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she sits at home in her pajamas. She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Learn more at www.LynnHBlackburn.com.
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