Tuesday, March 17, 2015

WILD HORSES by B.J. DANIELS



Publisher:    HQN
Published:   February 24, 2015
ISBN:   978-0373779567
Genre:   Romantic Suspense, Thriller
Format:  Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

FOUR HEARTS

Olivia, “Livie” Hamilton and Cooper Barnett have it all.  Young, in love, a close-knit family and a future many would envy. Amidst flowing champagne and good wishes family and friends have gathered to celebrate Livie and Cooper’s engagement and pending nuptials.  But not all the wellwishers wish the couple all that well.

Despite being Buckmaster Hamilton’s head wrangler, Cooper has his share of secrets, mainly of a past he’d rather forget.  But at any time that past could find him.

And Livie has her own secrets—one in particular could tear the couple apart before they even near the bridal aisle. 

And Livie’s loving family?  It seems they too have their secrets, secrets that could affect not only the young couple, but the lives of every member of the Hamilton family.  Step by step they try to resolve their problems and come to terms with their secrets, but with each step forward another secret unfurls.

A woman from the past stumbles into their lives—a jilted lover wants revenge—a presidential candidate may face a scandal he may never recover from.  And a deadly killer intends to go free no matter what the cost. 

WILD HORSES is a bit of a transition for B.J. Daniels.  I’ve been a fan of her Montana Mystique and Cardwell Cousins series and jumped at the chance to review the first of her newest series, the Montana Hamilton’s books, WILD HORSES.  There is romance and there is suspense, but with WILD HORSES she makes a nice transition into crime thriller. The first few chapters were bumpy with a number of characters introduced from seemingly out of nowhere.  They didn’t seem to connect to each other or to me as a reader.  There was no real romantic tension between Livie and Cooper—they’d found each other and were getting married.  That said, Daniels does a nice job of having them work through the issues that are tearing their relationship apart. 

Each of the six sisters are different and the reader sees pieces of each of their unique personalities throughout the story.  It’s a nice intro to what looks like will be a six book series with each sister having her own story.

There are other mysteries unveiled in the pages of WILD HORSES and hints of others.  As I said, the first few chapters were bumpy and seemed disjointed.  But when Daniels hits her stride in the book it became a “can’t put down, one more chapter-one more chapter-one more chapter read”.  The last 150 pages or so were a face-paced, engaging thrill ride until the killer is revealed.  I guessed who it was fairly early on, but still found myself with a white-knuckle hold on the book until the last pages were read.

What was a turn off to me is that this author, like so many recently, leaves major threads unresolved so that if you want to find out what happened you have to read the next book.  While many call this a “cliffhanger” ala “who shot J.R.?” it doesn’t work for series books—not when almost a year can go by before the next book comes out and not at $7.99 or better per book.  Yes, reading can be “cheap” enjoyment and you can read a good book over and over again…but leaving parts of stories unresolved comes across more like a ploy to get the reader to buy the next book rather than relying on the fact that an author can and does tell a good story.  B.J. Daniels is one of those authors—she tells a good story.  I’ll read anything she writes because her stories are so good.  I’m just disappointed she fell into this technique.

If you’re looking for a really good read, definitely pick up WILD HORSES.  Just be prepared for unfinished stories threads that you will have to wait for the next book to see resolved.

This is an objective review and an endorsement of this book.

 

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