I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Wanted by Dee Tenorio Series: Deadly Secrets #2
Series Rating:
Published by Entangled: Ignite on July 21st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 200
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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Some secrets are worth dying for...Undersheriff and former Marine Rick Trelane had one constant his entire life - his friendship with Whitney Peterson. Through thick and thin, she has never faltered. Never blamed. But when her former lover turns up dead, Rick must look past the walls he's built to the woman he thought he knew inside and out...and discover he was wrong.Whitney has secrets, deadly ones. The deeper he digs, the more he sees her as a woman he desires. And suspects. But as bodies start turning up, so does the evidence against her. Now the air is thick with secrets and shadows and giving into the longing could turn both their worlds upside down. Because this killer is just getting started...
Rick Trelane and Whitney Peterson have been close friends their entire lives. Whitney is the one thing in his life Rick can count on to be there, and to be stable – she’s his rock. Since coming back from his last tour of duty, she’s been the one constant. But she’s hiding something from him for the first time in their lives. He knows it has something to do with her ex. Brody Roberts, a former cop and current member of the Wheels of Pain, the MC Rick and his fellow cops have been trying to take down. When Brody winds up dead, Whitney is an obvious suspect. And when Brody’s cohorts in some shady dealings also start showing up dead, Rick knows he has to get to the bottom of Whitney’s secrets.
Best-friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes. I don’t know why. There’s just something about a couple who everyone can see is in love finally realizing it for themselves. In this case, Whitney is well aware of her feelings for Brody, but he has no idea how either of them felt. Once he starts to figure it out, he does his best to discourage Whitney in her feelings. Not only because she’s technically a suspect in the murders, but because he feels that he’s no good for her. He thinks that she would be better off with someone with fewer scars, both physical and emotional. Whitney has no such silly ideas and sets out to do everything she can to show Rick how great they’d be together.
This was a quick, fun read. (I got through it in one sitting). I didn’t really agree with either Rick or Whitney fully. I thought Rick was wrong in his insistence that they weren’t good for each other (his reasoning for it, anyway) and I thought Whitney should have been more open with Rick about what was happening with Brody, especially since Rick was a cop in a position to help her. I don’t think anyone reading this would be convinced Whitney was our killer, and I thought it was pretty clear who was. There wasn’t a huge cast, though, so there weren’t that many people to pick from. There was also a thread about someone in Rick’s past that was brought up then dropped without ever really being explained. I would have liked a little more fleshing out of that; I’m still not completely sure what was happening with that.
This is the second book in the series. The couple from the first book, Convicted, show up here a few times, mostly the hero of that book, Cade, who is Rick’s best friend and a fellow cop. That story sounds interesting, too, and I think sets up some of Rick’s backstory a little better, so I’d recommend reading that one first. Overall, I enjoyed this and look forward to more from Dee Tenorio.
