Carol Moncado

Welcome back to Romantic Suspense Review Week! Today is a review of Robin’s upcoming release [9/15]. Be sure to check it out!

In Angola State Penitentiary, a man is serving time for a crime he didn’t commit. Riley Baxter is an eager reporter desperate for a story to make a name for herself. When she stumbles upon the daughter of the incarcerated man, Riley sees a little too much of herself in the teen, and vows to help prove her father’s innocence.

At the same time, Hayden Simpson has his hands full with keeping his little sister in line, worrying about his job as Police Commissioner, and dealing with his past emotional baggage. The last thing he needs is someone blowing the lid off his emotional bucket. But when Riley Baxter storms into his life, struggling to understand why God would let bad things happen to good people, Hayden has no choice but to follow his heart.

Now, Riley and Hayden must work together to uncover the truth of the past . . . before someone shuts Riley up for good.

As with the four other books by Robin I’ve read in the last month, this one was well worth the read.

I loved getting to see the characters from Injustice for All and Rafe and Bella’s* relationship progressing.

But the main focus of this book is Riley, Rafe’s sister, and Hayden, the police commissioner in Louisiana from book 1.

Riley finds a family going through very difficult times after the husband/father goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. When she starts digging, she upsets some men determined to keep the truth hidden. Her feelings for Hayden [and his for her] complicate things as they try to get to the root of this family’s difficulties.

To make matters more difficult, Hayden’s sister is in a relationship with a man Hayden doesn’t fully trust.

As with all of Robin’s books, I found the characters and the plot to be well-rounded and fully fleshed out. The one thing that bugged me was near the end when they’ve discovered a person of interest who changed his name at some point. I had my suspicions as to who it was but didn’t blame them for not knowing since I had more information than they – especially Rafe and Hayden – did. The bugged me part was that they didn’t just try to find a picture of the guy from before his name change. Sure it takes time to find out who he is NOW, but if you’re investigating a case wouldn’t you find a picture of the guy to see if there’s any resemblance to anyone else you might know in the here and now. I don’t know that they would have recognized him but it would have been worth a shot – or worth a mention if they couldn’t find one.

It was a tiny niggle, but a niggle nonetheless.

I’m looking forward to book 3, which is to be about Rafe and Riley’s sister who we’ve gotten to know through the first two books. I don’t know who the hero is, but I’m kind of hoping it might be Rafe’s best friend from book 1. I don’t know why but that’s my hope. Of course, Robin’s already written it so it’s unlikely she’ll take my wishes under advisement but there they are ;).

Overall rating: 8 out of 10

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

*Highlight below to read the note about Rafe and Bella but beware it contains spoilers for Injustice for All.
Yes, Bella is Remington Wyatt from book 1, but I felt like saying that was a spoiler so left it as Bella here – it’s possible I feel that way because I read the books back to back but still…