I received a copy in exchange for an honest review. ** Spoiler Alert**
I have read every book in the Order of the Blade series ( 9 books are out so far) by Stephanie Rowe. This was the first book that I have read by her that is outside that series.
I really enjoyed this story. I literally did not know anything about the book. I did not even read the synopsis before I started reading. Ms. Rowe wanted readers and I love her writing so I figure I would go into it blind. I dove into a thrilling mystery with great romance (of course, I would not expect anything less from Ms. Rowe). I really enjoyed the plot, it was very intriguing; it definitely kept me wanting to read more and more everyday. Ms. Rowe did a great job of giving the reader enough information to know what is going on but there was still plenty to try and figure out. There are lots of twists in the book, which I was not expecting and it was interesting to see Ms. Rowe write in this way. I've only read her paranormal books and when there is a twist, it's "normal" because it's in the paranormal world, anything can happen. It was very appealing to see Ms. Rowe write a different genre. What I love about Ms. Rowe's writing style is her descriptive depiction of her characters. She has an amazing way of describing her characters emotions and thoughts. Every book I've read so far, all the characters are really complex in their emotions; there are always conflicting feelings, sadness, anger, frustration and love that each character shows that any person can relate to. All the emotions that are being characterized are from every day people, they're realistic; which is what I love about Ms. Rowe's writing.
The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is because I needed more background information on Ben. He was one of the main characters and I felt I needed to know more about him besides that he was in a gang since he was young.
What exactly happened to him when he was young to make him want to join a gang? Where were his parents? Did he have parents? Is that why he was so upset when his sister got married? Because she was his only family left? How did he go from gang member to lawyer? What kind of person did he used to be if all the people at his firm could turn on him in a murder trial? These were some of the unanswered questions I had about Ben.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an exciting mystery-suspense-thriller-romance. I would like to thank Stephanie Rowe for sharing her work with me. It was a pleasure, as always :-)