Synopsis (From Amazon)
When billionaire Steven Ashton couldn't stand his high society social life anymore, he left the stress of New York on a vacation for his soul. The need to meet real down to earth people lead him to a small Nebraska town he remembered visiting as a child. He didn't want to lie about who he was, but he couldn't exactly tell them the truth. Emily could have easily fallen in love with Steven, under different circumstances, but her past was catching up with her and she needed a new life. If the authorities found out about her, she could lose the one thing that meant everything, her four year old son.
I downloaded this book to my kindle this morning around 10am, and I literally could not put it down. Well, I had to since I had to go to the bank and the store for shopping, but after that, I picked it right back up and kept reading.
This book is roughly 67k words, which very much impresses me because there is so much story packed into this little novel. From Chapter One I was in love with Steven and his quirky self, even if I was jealous of him and his 6.2 billion dollars. As a character, he is very well thought out, a very "human" character. I mean, reading about him, it's easy to picture a real person acting and talking the way he does. Some characters don't have that, and I was very happy that he did.
Emily is the co-MC. She is a little less human to me, but I just feel that the reason for that is because Lieske doesn't spend as much time with her as she does with Steven. She has a four year old son, Connor, who is so adorable, but there are very few times where it's actually believable that he's four and not fourteen. I've babysat a lot of four year olds, and they certainly don't act like an adult. At least, not the ones I've ever watched. Anyway.
I downloaded this for a couple of reasons. The cover grabbed me, I just can't turn away from a book with a knife on the cover without checking it out first. Once I read the little synopsis, I was intrigued. I love reading suspense because they're just one of those spine-tingling genre's that grab you. I had honestly never heard of a romantic suspense, and was further intrigued. How can romance be suspenseful? After reading this book, I definitely give props to Lieske. I did start to groan, however, when another man was introduced to the story. I thought, oh bullocks. A love triangle. And then, it didn't happen. There was no love, at least the lustful love, between Emily and Richard, the other man. So I relaxed a bit. Lo and behold, here comes another man into the scene! Cue groaning. Vincent. I don't know why I hate that name, but I do, and I must say, I wasn't a fan of the character either. But, gratefully, no real love triangle here. There are lingering high-school feelings, but nothing that jeopardizes Emily's growing love for Steven (or vice versa).
The one thing I truly loved about this book, is the fact that there is always another twist around the corner. You finally figure out who is the one holding the smoking gun, and then WHAM! There pops up another element that puts the metaphorical gun in someone else's hands. I love that.
Now for the part that just gets to me. The ending. Total let down. I was shocked, truly, at the real murderer and was as involved in the story as I was at the beginning, but then it just... ends. And that's sad, because I was ready to move on to the next part of the story. You know, Emily and Steven get married, live in the gorgeous Victorian home...all the stuff that should be at the end of every romance book. I was looking for the Happy Ending, and it just wasn't there. It was a happy ending, but very sudden and rushed, like Lieske was pressed for time in finishing it up. Even with that though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to others who are interested in spending a couple hours with their fingers glued to a book.
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