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
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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