Narrated by Kathe Mazur
The third in the Rebel Ridge series, the premise behind the title is the tie that binds families together, “’til death do us part”. In this case, it’s not just about the joys of binding together in marriage, but the bonds of blood that cannot be broken, not until death and maybe not even then.
Meg Walker Lewis has made unfortunate choices in men – her high school boyfriend was convicted of killing his own father, and her ex-husband is currently in prison. She’s living alone now, and there’s evidence of someone stalking her, vandalizing her place.
Lincoln Fox has just returned to Rebel Ridge to clear his name after being wrongly convicted of killing his father. After his father starts to haunt his dreams, he knows it’s time to unearth the secrets of what really happened that night almost 20 years earlier. Meg and Linc are reunited and work together to uncover both mysteries: who is currently causing Meg trouble as well as who murdered Marcus Fox.
This time Sala doesn’t bring in external bad guys, like she did in the previous two books. She plays the bad-blood card in a local family whose lying, stealing and cheating have been bred in their very souls for generations. It’s a testament to her storytelling skills that she can present shallow motives and make you believe people will commit all manner of evil because of them. The pace of this book is slower, not the hard-driving, Die Hard action, until near the end. The real heart wrenching suspense is caused by Mother Nature, and again Sala shines by allowing her characters to be human, to suffer and bleed and not be invincible.
And again, Kathe Mazur shines as well in her delivery. Her tone, as it was in Don’t Cry for Me and Next of Kin, is understated and almost mesmerizing. Her hero voice isn’t done so much with pitch as it is with tone. She uses a slightly higher pitch for the women to differentiate. Again, as in the previous books, her Kentucky accents are just hints in the speech, not over-blown Hollywood hillbilly. It’s a win-win combination for gripping romantic suspense.
Melinda
Narration: A
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Fighting
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.
Thank you so much for this beautiful review! I just saw it and it made my night! I think you gals are fantastic, and I love what you contribute to the ongoing conversation about this field. Thanks again!
I had to laugh in this one I mean the brother who is worthless finally gets the backbone to kick the one who brings trouble around. Best book ever …
It’s been a while since I read it and wrote the review so I had to think for a minute… yeah, there was some b-b-bad family dynamics going on! The sister was a hot mess too!