Nate Beckett has been fighting wildfires since he left his hometown fourteen years ago. Back then he was the son of the town drunk, and he was in love with Brenna Strickland, the daughter of the local preacher. When Rev. Strickland learns that his daughter is seeing Nate, he makes his way to the local bar and insists that Roy Beckett make his son stay away from his daughter. A few hours later, the Reverend was found murdered, and Roy was arrested and sent to prison. Now Nate's father has been pardoned and is back home. Nate visits him while being off work due to injuries suffered in a fire. His father is still insisting that he is innocent and asking for help to clear his name.
While back in his hometown, Nate goes to see Brenna. She is happy to see him and doesn't blame him for what happened to her father. Her life has been crazy lately. Her husband left her for another woman and is now fighting for custody of their two children. Brenna is not dealing well with that fact and has started drinking. Nate volunteers to help her fight for custody of her kids.
This story was billed as Christian Suspense. To me it read like a clean contemporary romance with a couple of mystery elements. There really wasn't any suspense. I liked Nate and thought he was a good character. Brenna was her own worst enemy. She was great with the kids. But as soon as they left to stay with their father on the weekend, she would start crying, drinking and feeling sorry for herself. Instead of working with her attorney to get the kids back, she would just stick her head in the sand and moan about her life.
There was a lot happening in this story. Who killed Reverend Strickland and set up Roy Beckett? Will Brenna lose custody of her kids? Will Nate and Brenna rekindle their romance? Not much time was spent on the murder. The most interesting part of the story was about Brenna and her custody battle. The romance between Nate and Brenna was tepid at best.
I listened to the audio version of the story narrated by Sarah Zimmerman. She really didn't change her voice so we could tell the difference between the characters. I didn't know who was speaking a couple of times. My rating: 3 Stars.
While back in his hometown, Nate goes to see Brenna. She is happy to see him and doesn't blame him for what happened to her father. Her life has been crazy lately. Her husband left her for another woman and is now fighting for custody of their two children. Brenna is not dealing well with that fact and has started drinking. Nate volunteers to help her fight for custody of her kids.
This story was billed as Christian Suspense. To me it read like a clean contemporary romance with a couple of mystery elements. There really wasn't any suspense. I liked Nate and thought he was a good character. Brenna was her own worst enemy. She was great with the kids. But as soon as they left to stay with their father on the weekend, she would start crying, drinking and feeling sorry for herself. Instead of working with her attorney to get the kids back, she would just stick her head in the sand and moan about her life.
There was a lot happening in this story. Who killed Reverend Strickland and set up Roy Beckett? Will Brenna lose custody of her kids? Will Nate and Brenna rekindle their romance? Not much time was spent on the murder. The most interesting part of the story was about Brenna and her custody battle. The romance between Nate and Brenna was tepid at best.
I listened to the audio version of the story narrated by Sarah Zimmerman. She really didn't change her voice so we could tell the difference between the characters. I didn't know who was speaking a couple of times. My rating: 3 Stars.
