Where There is Smoke is an action-packed thriller, mystery, and romance all packed into one novel. Author Elisabeth Rose has delivered a fantastic standalone. The second novel of the Taylor’s Bend series has captured my heart and has turned me into a lifelong fan of Elisabeth Rose.
- Title: Where There is Smoke (Taylor’s Bend #2)
- Author: Elisabeth Rose
- Publisher: Escape Publishing on August 20, 2019
- Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Romance
- Pages: 200
- Format: eARC
- Rating: 5/5 Stars
Synopsis From Goodreads:
In the small town of Taylor’s Bend, some secrets are about to ignite…
When Taylor’s Bend vet Oliver Johnson attends a car accident involving a horse float from a nearby stud farm he’s not prepared for an encounter with Krista Laatonen, the billionaire owner’s stepdaughter. Beautiful, prickly, and entitled, she is everything he despises about the world he left behind all those years ago. But he can’t neglect an injured animal, and there is something about Krista he can’t ignore.
Oliver soon discovers that first impressions can be misleading-the accident was not as it seemed, and there might just be more to Krista than he expected.
When two thugs arrive on Oliver’s doorstep claiming the horse from the accident belongs to their boss, Oliver and Krista are thrown into the middle of a dangerous game of deception and greed. As the threats around them escalate into blood spilled, choking fire, and a violent abduction, Oliver must decide if Krista’s ice-queen mask hides a woman worth risking his life-and his heart-for.
My Review of Where There is Smoke:
When Oliver and Krista meet for the first time, she is icy and unapproachable, and he makes a wild conclusion just from looking at her. There was a hint of attraction for them both, but crippled by first impressions, they went their own ways. As the story goes on, they begin to learn more about each other, and they go through several scuffles together that only draw them closer together. Unfortunately, one disaster nearly tears them apart. Will they make it through the tragedy, or will they go their separate ways forever?
This is one of my favorite tropes. I love romance and when you throw in the magic of action and adrenaline it is all the better. There is so much happening in this novel that you barely have time to catch your breath, which is a very good thing.
The action and the romance all worked in a way that left me caught in the feels.
My one negative about this novel is that I did not find out until I sat down to write this review that this is part of a series. Which means, I did not read the first one before this one. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. But even so, the fact that I had no idea that it was a series, shows what a wonderful standalone book this is. However, if you want to get to know the town, you still can. So, while negative, I am happy that there is more to Taylor’s Bend. And, I hope that there is more on the way.
With that, I feel that I must award a full 5 out of 5 stars to Where There is Smoke. The writing is wonderful and kept me entertained throughout. I read it all at once in one night and did not even feel the time passing. I recommend this novel to anyone who loves romance with some action and adventure mixed in.
Happy Reading!
Kimberly xoxo
Thank you to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for providing me with a copy of Where There is Smoke in exchange for my honest review.
If you have not read it yet and would like to pick up a copy for yourself, you can purchase it on Amazon and if you use my special link in the image below, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
