Brief Thoughts: Before the Storm

Before the Storm

by Leslie Tentler
Book 1 of Rarity Cove

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

Six years earlier, Trina Grissom disappeared, on the run for her life.  Now living under an assumed identity—as Samantha Marsh—she still struggles with the dark secret she harbors and the fear she might one day be found.  When she moves to the coastal town of Rarity Cove, South Carolina, to open a café, a handsome widower begins to chip away at the walls she’s built to protect herself.

Mark St. Clair lost his wife two years ago in a tragic accident.  Head of the grand St. Clair resort, he distracts himself from his lingering grief by running the family business and caring for his troubled young daughter...until a beautiful restaurateur sets up shop in town.  Before meeting Samantha, Mark was convinced he could never be drawn to another woman.  But as his attraction to Samantha grows, the mystery surrounding her deepens.

As the two begin a hesitant courtship, double perils emerge.  Someone from Samantha’s lurid past comes calling, threatening to expose her.  And a powerful hurricane is forming in the Atlantic with the small beach town in its path.  Trapped in the storm by the brutal man who wants vengeance on Samantha, she and Mark must fight for their lives.

With the slow start and some over-dramatic moments between characters throughout the beginning of the book, I had started getting wary of how the rest of the story would play out.  There was the potential for a love triangle, a frustratingly childish sibling rivalry, and one of those rich and snooty high society mothers who is just mean because she can be.

Meanwhile, most of the book felt a little dragged out since the main suspense conflict was simply floating around in the background.  We spend a whole lot more time looking into the angsty romance and the tenuously fragile relationship between a set of brothers.

Surprisingly, when I was about to give up on this book being any good, things began to pick up midway, and got kind of exciting.  There were still a lot of events that defy logic a big, and still a whole lot of angst-ridden romantic drama.

At the least there was an emotional climax that might have gotten me a bit teary-eyed, but when it comes to kids in a work of fiction, I find I'm getting soft.  Kids and animals.  And this book manages to present an adorable young girl who is having a post traumatic reaction to her mother's death from a few years prior to this book's setting--apparently, ever since a tragic accident that took said mother's life, the little girl had just stopped talking.

The events surrounding the little girl's recovery, I wish could have been explored a bit more.  Of course, this is a romantic suspense about our main couple, so... yeah...  But what little we get to see about how the little girl starts talking again was quite touching... even if slightly incredible.

All-in-all, the book was enjoyable, kept my attention, and had me breezing through it.


***

Booklikes-opoly

Roll #8:  Water Works says to read a book with water on the cover.
This book features water on the cover.

Page Count:  336
Cash Award:  $3.00

Updated Bank Balance:  $42.00

See Also:  Freebie Roll Activities