Broken Promise by Tara Thomas

I love romance, and I love a good mystery. As soon as I read this I knew it was going to be RIGHT up my alley!

A huge thank you to St Martins Press for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my review.

This is book three of the Sons of Broad Series. This story takes place in Charleston, South Carolina. Officer Alyssa had lost her sister multiple years ago and has sworn to join the force to bring justice to women. Jade, a recent acquaintance of the Benedict brothers and Alyssa, has been kidnapped. Come to find out, Jade is a long lost half-sibling of Kipling (the Benedict brother gaining close relations with Alyssa). Alyssa agrees to help find Jade, and along the way, starts to piece together the mystery of her sisters death. There are pretty crazy coincidences that come about that leave your jaw on the floor multiple times.

Okay, I have a confession to make. I just discovered Tara through seeing this book so I have not read her previous books. Having said that, I was completely nervous going into this book not having known any true backstory. Thank you Tara for writing with such detail so I could jump right in and follow along! Yeah, there were a few things that, as I was reading, I wish I had known more about, but even that was few and far between. She did a wonderful job recapping past events that are important to the current storyline. On the other hand, Alyssa started off as not one of my favorite characters. She openly shared deep dark emotions to a guy she portrays to be annoyed by. Whyyyyy would you do thatttttt, Alyssa!

I loved the steamy romance aspect to the mystery and crime; it’s not something you see done too often and I highly enjoyed it. It gave me a nice break from my typical thriller suspense adrenaline rush. Regardless, this story is very suspenseful in itself and kept me on the edge of my seat as each chapter progressed. All the clues to the disappearance of Jade came from previous mysteries from the other books which wrapped up the story quite nicely. As the story went on, the relationship between Kipling and Alyssa just went together so perfectly, I almost forgave Alyssa for making those stupid mistakes in the beginning. Yeah, some parts were a bit too cheesy for my liking, but it kept me entertained. I really enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to go back and read her other books (sorry for working backwards haha!)

4/5 Stars

Grab a copy of the latest book in the series here! 

 

A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake

Instagram is pretty awesome. Joy came across my page and we started chatting about Charleston. Turns out, Joy has written an incredibly captivating story that takes place in Charleston and it completely blew my mind.

Thank you Joy for sending me a copy to read and enjoy!

This story has two time periods – one story on the 1822 slave revolt and the other starting in 2015 – both taking place in Charleston, South Carolina. Kate is studying at Harvard University when she leaves her work due to a breakdown. She has most recently lost her mother and decides to return to Charleston to discover key truths about her family’s past. The other side of the story takes place around the slave rebellion. His proposed job is to make weapons for the rebellion through the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It’s DEEP.

WOW. Just, wow. This normally isn’t a book I would run to right away (as you may know, I’m all about the thrills). This just left me so emotional for all the right reasons! What’s so crazy is that as Joy was writing this novel, the unfortunate church massacre in Charleston took place. The unfortunate event was woven so intricately into the story, it still gives me chills just thinking about it. I think everyone should read this book, especially during these times of heartbreak and the black lives matter movement. It’s an eye opener!

4.5/5 Stars