Review: Sinful Secrets by Melissa Ohnoutka

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Standalone
Release: November 14, 2016
Length: 313 pages

Event planner Joanna McNamee is scrambling to ensure her father’s company Christmas party goes smoothly, but one disaster after another has her convinced someone is trying to sabotage her career. With the help of a man from her past who she’s still not sure she can trust, she puts the pieces together and realizes her business is the least of her problems—a cold-blooded killer is out to destroy her father and take her as his prized possession.

The last thing Deputy Ryker Kane expects is for a simple truck hijacking to throw him back into the middle of the Black Widow case he’d been forced to abandon, not to mention right into the arms of the sweet woman he’d let walk away ten years earlier. When he finds Jo Jo kidnapped and drugged, he has to use all his wits and skills honed from years as a detective to save them both. Despite the secrets between them, Ryker’s bound and determined to give them a second chance at love.

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MY REVIEW

I'm erring on the side of caution with my star rating. I'm still not sure how to really rate this so I did a balance. Parts were worthy of 1 or 2 stars and some were worth 4. So there you go with my calculation :D

Let's be frank. The cover and blurb of this book are ANNOYINGLY misleading. I expected suspense because that's what it stated. But with that cover, I also expected some sexy. Or even some romance. The romance part of this book was BARELY touched upon.

This was romantic suspense... or suspenseful romance? While a connection was created between the main characters, Jojo and Ryker, and they were even given a past hookup, the details were vague. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. But even their present encounters lacked chemistry so it could just be that the romantic side of their relationship was meant to take a back seat to the drama of the plot.

To me, the suspense and mystery and drama of the plot took centerstage, and that was okay. This story had secrets, betrayals, murder, doubt, confusion, and plenty of action. It was an edge-of-your-seat introduction, for me, to this author's style and I recommend it to those who can appreciate action and suspense.