ARC Review: Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin

If you are like me and have been a lifetime reader of suspense/thriller type books, you simply can't pass up a book like this. From page one, the book is a fast paced, serial killer whodunnit. For the suspense/mystery lover in you, this book will hit it out of the park. For the romance lover in you, however, this may be a little less of a home run. The romance between the main characters takes a long time to build, the two spend a lot of time apart and there relationship is very much a secondary story line.

Shadow Fall focuses on Tara Rushing and Liam Wolfe. Tara is an FBI agent sent to investigate the murder of Liam's former client. Liam is a security expert and becomes a prime suspect in the murder. Things move quickly though and it becomes apparent that the killer has targeted more women than just Liam's former client.

I really like the interactions between Tara and Liam that start off as interrogations and rapidly wonder in a different direction. Tara managed to be tough without coming across as unlikeable. She was overworked and traumatized by the nature of her work. The trauma gave her both a vulnerability and a likability that is sometimes missing from women investigator roles. Liam was my favorite brand of alpha. He reeks confidence, uses too few words to answer questions and can undress you with a look. I love a vague seductive bossy man. My only criticism of both Liam and Tara's characters is that the book isn't enough about them to really develop the background on their attraction to each other. It all worked in terms of them teaming up to solve the mystery but I wanted more about them too.

I love the turf war between the local sheriff and the FBI, it spiced things up. I also like the other supporting cast from the Wolf Agency and Tara's partner MJ. This is a very well written mystery and suspense novel that you can easily read in just a few sittings. I highly recommend you give this one a try.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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Feature and Giveaway: Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin

In the ninth romantic suspense novel in the New York Times bestselling Tracers series, author Laura Griffin brings back her elite cadre of forensic experts as they hunt down the most brutal serial killer yet.

Special Agent Tara Rushing arrives at a grisly murder scene and quickly discovers she’s got a serial killer on her hands. The killer is meticulous, making sure to wipe up even the smallest traces of evidence…but the Delphi Center experts are on the case.

The local sheriff has a suspect all picked out—ex-Marine and current security expert Liam Wolfe. Despite all her digging, Tara knows very little about Liam when she shows up at his sprawling Texas compound, which serves as headquarters for Wolfe Security, and she’s surprised by her intense physical reaction to him.

As she and Liam grow closer, Tara finds herself depending on his skills and expertise to help her track a killer. But when another body turns up, Tara must decide if she can trust the man who’s quickly stealing her heart.

The ninth novel in the Tracers series that combines gripping plot twists with spine-tingling romance, Shadow Fall once again proves that “Laura Griffin gets better with each book” (The Romance Reviews).

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ARC Review: Far Gone by Laura Griffin

I seriously want to take up residence in Laura Griffin’s brain. I’ve been a huge fan of her work, and especially her Tracers series, from the beginning and know that I can turn to any one of her novels for some of the best romantic suspense or romantic thrillers in the industry. And it only gets better with each novel! FAR GONE marks her well-deserved hardcover debut and the eighth entry in her Tracers series of loosely connected stories and delivers what readers have come to expect from a Laura Griffin novel—a perfectly paced white-knuckle thrill ride of a plot, a gutsy yet believably vulnerable heroine, and a swoon-worthy alpha hero with a sweet side you want to take home—whilst managing to keep it fresh and interesting despite being set in the same world as seven other novels (all of which can be read as standalones).

FAR GONE sees disgraced Austin PD detective Andrea Finch, on administrative leave following the officer-involved fatal shooting of a teenager holding up a restaurant kitchen, tracking her computer genius of a younger brother to a dusty West Texas border town and stumbling across an FBI undercover investigation into an anti-government homegrown terrorist following in the footsteps of Timothy McVeigh. Admittedly, the thwart-a-terrorist-attack plot isn’t particularly novel, but Ms. Griffin masterfully layers in political ideology, a series of seemingly unrelated bank robberies, a six-year-old cold murder case, Islamic radicals, and a compressed timeline leading up to April 19th (the anniversary of Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the beginning of the Revolutionary War) to create a complex, thrilling, thoroughly researched, and scarily believable multi-pronged storyline that captures the reader’s interest from the get-go.

Perfectly complementing the fast-moving plot is the complex blossoming relationship between undercover FBI Special Agent Jon North, working against the clock and the rest of the Bureau to link the seemingly unrelated cases to notorious antigovernment gun nut Shay Hardin, and Andrea, whose younger brother Gavin is implicated in the imminent attack. Andrea can’t imagine her sweet-natured brother being complicit to a terror plot and Jon can’t see how he could not be involved given that he’s living in Hardin’s fortress of a compound. What better source of romantic tension than falling for the fed investigating your brother who wants to use him as an inside source to stop a sociopath? Ms. Griffin skillfully builds that tension throughout the bulk of the book—the first love scene happens ~2/3 of the way through the novel—and the desire to see Andrea and Jon reconcile their differences and get their HEA (or HFN) keeps the reader turning the pages as much as the suspense plot. Ms. Griffin excels at striking that perfect balance between romantic tension and suspense and weaving the two together intimately; in FAR GONE, the romance isn’t particularly overt (perhaps to appeal more broadly to the hardcover thriller audience) but is an integral part of the story and the characters’ emotional journey. As per usual, the characterization is top notch and the protagonists well-developed and three-dimensional: with just a few words, we feel Andrea’s trust issues and fear of failure that threatens to get in the way of everything good in her life, and Jon’s protectiveness and commitment to stopping a ruthless villain no matter the personal cost. Andrea and Jon are both emotionally complex characters I wanted to both hug and whack upside the head for being (occasional) idiots, and they have a real, layered relationship-in-the-making that resonated with me. What Jon does near the end of the novel is sure to earn him much disdain from female readers, but I found it to be consistent with his character and an important contributor to making his relationship with Andrea realistic despite the short time frame.

Overall, FAR GONE is another great addition to the popular Tracers series (kind of—as more thriller than straight-up RS, it may be positioned somewhat outside of the Tracers brand despite featuring many of the series’ secondary characters) that is sure to satisfy Laura Griffin, romantic suspense, and romantic thriller fans alike. I’m already looking forward to what Ms. Griffin does next!

**ARC provided by Author**

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ARC Review: Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin

When I heard that two of my favourite romantic suspense authors were teaming up to co-write a new suspense/mystery series, I jumped at the chance to read CRASH AND BURN, the novel that kicks off the Moreno & Hart series. I love Allison’s dark and twisted romantic thrillers and think that Laura’s Tracers series is some of the best straight-up romantic suspense around, so I was intrigued to see how these two fantastic authors would combine their two very different writing and storytelling styles into a cogent whole. The result is two great (but short) stories featuring two kickass characters that reads like the pilot for a new high-octane television series and sets the stage for what is sure to be a very successful collaboration.

CRASH AND BURN is an unusual collaboration in that it’s actually two separate-but-connected stories written by each of the two authors and each told from the point of view of one of the two protagonists, Scarlet Moreno and Krista Hart. Scarlet and Krista are former LAPD officers who were set up and nearly killed during a sting operation three years ago and now run Moreno & Hart Investigations in Orange County. Each story follows one of the investigators on a case and is heavy on the action and suspense but lighter on the romance as we are introduced to Scarlet and Krista and their romantic interests.

CRASH is very much an Allison Brennan novel, darker and with a heftier dose of murder and violence to match the older, broodier Scarlet, who’s truly still a cop at heart but enjoys the freedom being a PI gives her to investigate who betrayed Krista and her three years ago. Scarlet is working a cheating spouse case when she finds herself inadvertently in the middle of a hilarious-but-sad crazy stalker ex-girlfriend case and butting heads with new, sexy Newport Beach detective Alex Bishop in a double homicide where her favourite bartender becomes a suspect. [Note: sexual assault plays an important role in the story]. It boasts Allison’s trademark pitch-perfect pacing and approachable writing style, and the great dialogue makes both Scarlet and uptight Detective Bishop thoroughly likeable characters—even in a short(ish) story. I wish there had been more time for the romance to feature more prominently, but that will hopefully come in subsequent books! Scarlet absolutely kicks ass, and I want to be her when I grow up. Krista too.

BURN is a great example of why Laura Griffin won the 2013 romantic suspense RITA—though, again, lighter on the romance than usual. It’s beautifully written, with a great balance of humour and gripping suspense that perfectly showcases Krista’s sunnier personality and dogged determination to elevate Moreno & Hart to the top. After chasing down deadbeat dads and philandering husbands for most of the three years Moreno & Hart has been operating, Krista is hired by the biggest criminal defence attorney in Orange County to track down and deliver a missing witness. But things are not what they seem, the client is an absolute wanker, and Krista is forced to cross paths (and reluctantly work with) sexy-but-irritating-as-hell rival investigator R.J. Flynn. Though the length of the story and the focus on the suspense means there isn’t much in the way of romance, the attraction (reluctant on Krista’s part and blatant on R.J.’s) between the two of them is evident and their banter has me really looking forward to them finally getting together!

If you like your suspense primarily plot-driven (but with some really great characters) and/or are a fan of Allison Brennan or Laura Griffin, CRASH AND BURN will not disappoint. If you have never read anything by Allison or Laura, it’s a great way to get acquainted with their voices before delving into their very extensive backlists. I’m already looking forward to the next Moreno & Hart book and intrigued to see if they will keep to the current format of two connected short(ish) stories with Allison writing Scarlet and Laura writing Krista.

ARC provided by Author**

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ARC Review: Exposed by Laura Griffin

I’ve been an avid fan of Laura Griffin’s Tracers romantic suspense series from book #1 and have yet to come away disappointed. The series—a set of loosely connected books centered around a state-of-the-art forensics laboratory (the Delphi Centre) and the experts who work there to help law enforcement agencies solve crimes—boasts some of the best straight-up romantic suspense I have read in years: a perfect balance between the romance and the suspense, edge-of-your-seat action that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next, well-developed and memorable characters (both the protagonists and the recurring cast of Delphi characters that show up), and heinous villains, all wrapped up in tight, straightforward writing that packs quite the punch. EXPOSED is the seventh entry in the series (though it can easily be read as a standalone) and is another excellent addition that delivers everything I have come to expect in a Laura Griffin novel.

Madeline (Maddie) Callahan is a forensic photographer working as a CSI for the Delphi Centre who also moonlights as a wedding/portrait photographer. Her career choice, and much of her motivation and emotional baggage as a character, stems from the tragic loss of her two-year-old daughter in an unsolved hit-and-run several years ago, which has left her merely existing rather than living, determined to help solve as many cases as possible, and closed off from everyone—especially potential romantic entanglements. Enter rookie FBI Special Agent Brian Beckman, smart, gorgeous, sure of himself and what he wants without being cocky, and incredibly sweet. The attraction between the two of them sizzles, but Maddie’s walls and her reservations about getting involved with a younger man make the development of the relationship a slow and realistic build. The relationship dynamics are a bit unusual because Maddie is the one with the baggage and throwing up roadblocks whilst Brian is incredibly well adjusted and sure that he wants everything with Maddie, but they work perfectly together: he understands her well enough to know when to give her space and when to push back when she tries to push him away, and she’s everything he’s ever wanted. The way he breaks down her defenses and makes her live rather than exist will have you wishing for a Brian of your own. Maddie’s hang-up about Brian being younger may seem a bit ridiculous but does have a believable explanation, though I was somewhat tempted to shake some sense into her—Brian is seriously perfect book boyfriend material!

The suspense starts in the opening pages with Maddie being mugged after a photo shoot near the site of the kidnapping of a federal witness and doesn’t let up until the very end. Kidnapping, drug trafficking, murder, corruption—EXPOSED has it all, and it is impeccably paced and the perfect backdrop for Maddie and Brian’s blossoming relationship. I found myself sneaking additional chapters because I simply could not wait to find out what they uncovered next in the case and how the villain would get his comeuppance. And to catch up with the characters from previous books and meet new ones—in addition to creating believable and relatable protagonists, Laura Griffin excels at crafting memorable secondary characters.

Highly recommended for existing fans of the Tracers series and of romantic suspense. And if you’ve never read a romantic suspense novel, this entire series is a great gateway to the genre. I'm already impatiently awaiting the next book!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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