Misty had been shot in the thigh and Ava pulls Misty down on the floor as she heard more shots. Ava looked for the shooter. People ran past the two women on the ground. Ava knew she had to find cover after she had put a tourniquet of sorts on Misty’s thigh  Ava was a special agent of the Portland FBI office and she calls 911. Ava tld the person on the line there was an active shooter and who she was and Ava was with a woman who needed medical attention she had been shot and Ava had used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and Ava told the person where they were by the sunglasses kias. Then Ava seen the shooter and he was going in the direction of the garage. Ava and Misty had been walking away from their yoga class and were talking as they walked and then Misty was shot. Ava texted Mason her live in boyfriend and a cop and she told him she was at the Riverton Mall and there was an active shooter.. Ava added she was O K but couldn’t talk. Then she added love you. Mason tried to get into the mall when Ava didn’t answer his calls or texts after he had heard from her.  A deputy told Mason told him no. He had been in this same position last spring when Ava had vanished , she had been taken by a serial killer on a crazed mission. Ava and Ray had met eights months ago and she had changed his life. After getting out of the mall incident and the killer looking right at her then just leaving her and going into the restroom to commit suicide Ava isn’t bouncing back. Then another unexplainable takes place and Mason and Jay are assigned to the task force to figure out what is going on with these shootings. This is keeping all of the task force extremely busy. As this is the third shooting at a lakeside park with the same scenario- WHY ? . Then Ava’s identical twin sister Jayne is becoming unstable and suicidal again. . Jaybe has a history of mental illness and dangerous behavior. This messing with Ava’s head and emotions.  Mason doesn’t know how to help Ava but he isn’t letting her push him away from her when she really needs him

I liked liked this book. IU really liked the suspense and action. I loved Mason and Ava together and how Mason fights to not let Ava push him out of her life   as she is falling apart while also being very busy on the task force. I advise you to read the first two books of this series to give you background and bring things together. Why didn’t Ava’s professional training kick in? Ava is on vacation from her job why is she being allowed to go with other agents to crime scenes ? Especially since she isn’t bouncing back from the mall shooting and facing the shooter? Jayne what a twisted wench Ava has to get her out of Ava's life before she destroys her with all that is going on with Ava. I enjoyed the twists in this story. I liked the characters a lot and the twists and turns of this book and I recommend it.

Solitaire hadn’t had a murder since December and then Stevie just got notified there was a body at Crying Indian Campground. It was in the woods. Stevie was to get married this weekend, Stevie was actually happy that she could avoid all wedding talk for the next ten hours. Zane was Stevie’s fiance and the police chief. It turns out that an A list actor Chase Ryan had been murdered. Chase was the star of a national detective  television show  and Chase’s body was posed in the same way as a  crime Chase’s character had investigated.  Chase was with his brother Spider and two childhood friends Josh and Toby and Spider’s son Brandan for a week of camping. Once the word gets out Solitaire’s is over run with all kinds of people include paparazzi  and news media from all over. Zane and Stevie get together a long list of suspects who all seem to be hiding  something such as: Chase’s manager, a stalker, and fans of the show to name just a few. Also the people Chase had been camping with all painted a different picture than the cops were finding out. Then the night before Stevie and Zane were to get married the reception hall is set on fire and burned down to the ground.

I loved this book it had a little of everything in it : a small town, close family, betrayals, secrets, lies, murder, intrigue, a popular actor, paparazzi, many suspects, a stalker, romance and so much more. This novella was a quick paced read. I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this book as well as the stress of a coming up wedding. Where this gets really heptic when the reception hall burns down which starts Stevie wondering if the wedding should be cancelled until after the murderer is found. Stevie has a good heart and mine went out to here the stress of the wedding and then a murder. This story definitely drew you in and kept you until the end of the book. I didn’t realize this was the first part of a two part story or I probably would have waited to have both parts before I read this. There was questions still to be answered. But the writing was very good as was the plot. The characters were great and the ins and outs are also very good. I highly recommend.    

 

Not bad.  Thought I read a few of Ms. Elliot's books in the past but it was a different author that was very similar in writing style.  I'll read more from Kendra Elliot.

Not bad so far.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

Once I started reading this novella, I didn't want to put it down until I had finished. The great thing is that it really easy to do exactly that since this is a pretty short piece at only approximately 100 pages or so. I enjoyed the first novella in this series and decided to jump right into the second one. I actually ended up liking this one more than the first.

This novella picks up right after the events of the first in the series. There is some continuation of the story from the first novella so it is probably best to read these in order if at all possible. Although, I do think that readers who decide to read this novella as a stand alone will be okay since the bulk of the plot is contained within this installment with only a few threads taken from the first in the series.

This novella was really almost non-stop action which I absolutely loved. The more action the better. This story focuses on Stevie and Zane. Zane and Stevie work together in the police department which has been quite busy in this little town. They are called when a dead body is found at the local motel and before long they are trying to solve two different murders that are quite possibly linked.

I liked following Stevie and Zane as they worked to solve the murders. The alternating voices in this novella worked well and it was nice to be able to spend time in both Stevie and Zane's head. The relationship between the pair worked well for me this time. I never felt that anything was forced or sappy. The excitment in this story really built until the very end and I was almost holding my breath before it was over.

I would highly recommend this novella to others. This is the first time that I have read any of Kendra Elliot's work but I plan to look for her books in the future.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Amazon Publishing - Montlake Romance via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
I liked this novella a little more than the first one. Lots of excitement for such a short piece.