Monday, September 7, 2015

Review: Keeper's Reach

Keeper's Reach (Sharpe & Donovan - Book 5) by Carla Neggers

Publication Date: 08/25/2015
Publisher: Harlequin 
Imprint: MIRA
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 320
ISBN-100778317528
ISBN-13978-0778317524

(Received for an honest review from MIRA)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, itunes

Carla Neggers on the WEB: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Books in the series:

Sharpe & Donovan
0.5. Rock Point 
1. Saint's Gate 
2. Heron's Cove 
3. Declan's Cross 
4. Harbor Island 
5. Keeper's Reach 


Coverart: Click the image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.




Excerpt from Keeper's Reach, courtesy of the author's website

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers returns with this absorbing, twisting tale of suspense, romance and fast-paced action, the latest in her popular Sharpe & Donovan series. 

Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan, two of the FBI's most valuable agents, are preparing for their next big assignment—their wedding—when Colin's brother Mike alerts them that onetime friends from his military past are on Sharpe and Donovan home turf on the Maine coast. Now private security contractors, they want to meet with Mike. One of them, an FBI agent named Kavanagh, is supposed to be on leave. What is he investigating—or does he have his own agenda? 

Mike zeroes in on Naomi MacBride, a freelance civilian intelligence analyst who, aside from a few hot nights, has never brought him anything but trouble. Newly returned from England, Naomi clearly isn't telling Mike everything about why she's snooping around his hometown, but he has no choice but to work with her if he wants to uncover what's really going on. 

But the case soon takes a drastic turn—Emma is targeted, and a connection surfaces between Naomi and Kavanagh and a recently solved international art theft case. Not every connection is a conspiracy, but as the tangled web of secrets unravels, Emma and Colin face their greatest danger yet. With everyone they know involved, they must decide who they can trust…or lose everything for good.


Thoughts:

Carla Neggers brings readers the latest book in the Sharpe & Donovan romantic suspense series, Keeper's Reach. This series, set in Maine has intrigue, suspense, fast action, a cast of lovable, if eccentric, characters and a good dose of romance. Readers looking for an author who writes with great attention to detail and intelligence will love this one. Keeper's Reach is the fifth book in the series and features not only the upcoming wedding of Emma and Colin, but also the back story of Colin's brother, Mike. A very good addition to the series!

What I liked:

I have only read one of the other books in this series, the first one, Saint's Gate. I really enjoyed that one for several reasons. Keeper's Reach is the fifth book and I still like the same things about it that I did in the beginning. Setting, characters, plotting. 

Carla Neggers does such a good job with the setting for this series. Readers who don't live in New England get a taste of what Maine living can be like. In this particular series Heron's Cove, is on the ocean. Fishing villages abound and the setting takes on the characteristics of a good character. It enhances the story to a large degree. Neggers is able to draw the reader in with her descriptions of this beautiful place and make readers want to return to it time and again.

The characters have always been full of mystery and intrigue. Emma is an FBI agent and so is Colin. How difficult a relationship would that be? Exactly, there are a lot of levels to both these characters and Neggers does a fantastic job of bringing them out in each book. The secondary characters are just as multi-dimensional as the leads. In Keeper's Reach, readers get to know more about Mike, Colin's brother. Neggers is able to bring the past of a secondary character to the forefront of the story and join it with the lead characters disappearance and make it all make sense. Excellent characterizations!

The plot of every book in this series has been exceptional and Keeper's Reach is no different. Because of the occupation of the lead characters you can expect a lot of fast action, and situations with serious consequences, but in this book, the action gets a little too close for comfort, when Emma disappears. I like all that intrigue and covert operations, it gives each book that spine tingling feeling. But there is always a degree of romance as well. Emma and Colin's upcoming wedding allows the reader to focus not only on the mystery but the personal aspect of the characters relationships with each other.

Bottom Line:

I liked this one, it was just as good as the first one. I learned a lot more about Mike and what he had gone through in his life and his relationship with Naomi was interesting. Colin and Emma were amazing as usual and their upcoming wedding gave me something to look forward to, if they could get through the mess. It was a good book and I hope there will be many more like it. 

Keeper's Reach is available NOW from your favorite bookseller

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!


About the Author:


Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels of contemporary romance and romantic suspense, including her popular Sharpe & Donovan and Swift River Valley series. Her books have been translated into 24 languages and sold in over 30 countries. Carla is always plotting her next adventure--whether in life or for one of her novels. A frequent traveler to Ireland, she lives with her family in New England.

1 comment:

holdenj said...

I've heard such good things about this series! Your review reminds me I should give it a try!