Riptide: A Gripping Romance and Suspense Thriller for Women – Murder, Passion, and Betrayal

by Margaret Carroll

Riptide is the second enthralling thriller from Margaret Carroll, author of A Dark Love. In this heart-stopping tale of passion and suspense, Christina’s wealth and prestige cannot protect her—from the law or from the dangerous arms of her lover—when she is accused of murdering her estranged husband.

Genres: Romantic Suspense

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Margaret Carroll writes fiction part-time in addition to being a full-time mother and homemaker. Her fiction builds on 20 years' global public relations and journalism experience. She has served on award-winning marketing teams, as President of an industry organization dedicated to raising standards for public relations professionals, and has traveled the globe.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and has completed numerous writing seminars and workshops.

She resides with her family now in Michigan in a seventy-five year old Tudor house that is a great place to write. They live with Buddy, a Scottish Terrier, who makes sure the mice stay outside.

Reviews

[*Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riptide by Margaret Carroll

This is a perfect example of do not judge a book by its cover. I was expecting this to be a typical romantic suspense novel but it was really so much more. Excellent mystery and nebulous ending which you will either love or hate.

Christina Cardiff has been unhappily married for 16 years to her cheating husband, Jason, who comes from an extremely wealthy family who has never accepted her less fortunate background. Over the years, she has not only had to deal with her uncaring husband but with his family as well, including sitting at dinners where her mother- and sister-in-law have invited other women to entice Jason away from her. She has stayed with him for the sake of their son, who is being groomed to fit in with the family. Christina has a battle on her hands to keep them from stealing him from her, especially since she is an alcoholic and drug addict.

In desperation to change her life, she checks herself into an exclusive rehab center and is only a week into the program when she receives word that her husband has been found dead in their pool. This strikes her as strange because he avoids all water due to a near-drowning incident when he was only five. She returns home to face homicide detectives investigating the death and to the comforting arms of her new boyfriend (the first affair of her marriage). As she is struggling to maintain her sobriety while burying her husband, fending off the police and her in-laws, and trying to get her son out of their clutches, information slowly emerges that makes her doubt herself and the people around her, and regret the poor choices she's made in life.

[Gary Sedivy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A 'bodice ripper' mystery. I liked the supporting characters, the neighbors, the police detectives, etc., than the main character or the bad guy. The main character is a 'poor little rich girl' whose relatives hate her guts, and whose husband is killed. The two or three sex scenes were just a little too graphic for me to appreciate, and at the end I didn't care if she made it to rehab or not.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your looking for a good romance book, this isn,t it. The story begins and ends the same way , with the female protagonist alone. Its not to bad for a suspense book though.

[B. Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked me. Read my review in the October-December issue of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com.