“As a forensic genealogist, Willow Anderson is following in her late grandfather's footsteps in her quest for answers about a baby abducted from the hospital more than twenty years ago. The case may be cold, but things are about to heat up when someone makes an attempt on her life to keep her from discovering the truth.
Ex-FBI agent--and Willow's ex-flame--Austin McKade readily offers his help to protect the woman he never should have let get away. Together they'll follow where the clues lead them, even if it means Austin must face the past he's spent much of his life trying to forget. And even if it puts Willow's tender heart at risk.”
Series: Book #1 in the “Uncommon Justice” trilogy.
Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are remembered; Many Prayers & Thanking God; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; At one point, Willow feels like God is far away from her; Charlie is new to having a faith and prays for God to help her survive (she doesn’t understand why that if God cares about her, why this is all happening, but prays anyway); Katelyn has doubts about continue searching for her baby and thinks that “nothing in Scripture could help her silence the doubts”; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; A few mentions of churches & church going; A couple mentions of someone saying another can do miracles; A mention of a Bible; A mention of a man being pushy about his religion, but Charlie was grateful that she listened to him on that point; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of a monk on the way to evening prayers;
*Note: A few mentions of battling demons; A mention of evil winning with the death of someone; A mention of someone being lucky; A mention of a Phoenix; A mention of a family curse being that they hide things from each other.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, a ‘hurts like heck’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘suck it up’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘shoot’s, and seven ‘stupid’s; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm; Recalling seeing a murder of a loved one, being threatened, & being chased by a murderer (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Throwing a knife & killing someone (up to semi-detailed); Being shot, being tased, being held at gunpoint, being attacked, being abducted, being chased, a car wreck, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); A break-in, being threatened with a knife, gunshots, & shooting at someone (self-defense, up to semi-detailed); A fire & being trapped (up to semi-detailed); Jumping into a river (barely-above-not-detailed); Thinking you could be killed & pushed down a ravine (barely-above-not-detailed); Panic attacks & close ones (up to semi-detailed); Nightmares (up to semi-detailed): Lying (for answers that they need and also to not reveal what they’re thinking); A dog runs away (and does not return); The prologue is of a woman stealing a newborn baby from a hospital (an abduction; the biological mother has cancer and wasn’t expected to live long); Grieving (Willow is grieving the sudden death of her grandfather who raised her & Charlie is grieving her mother); All about many mentions of abductions (mostly child abductions), the abductors, & ransom notes (including how Austin used to work in the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team, a few mentions of someone having to shoot another who was going to kill a child in front of the child, and a couple mentions of a few children dying or almost dying at the hands of their abductors (either directly or indirectly), all up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of murders, murderers, seeing a murder, being threatened & a hit-and-run (which caused a death of someone on a bicycle, all up to semi-detailed); Mentions of car accidents, deaths, & drunk driving (Willow’s parents & Austin’s dad, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fires, a death, someone being trapped, arson, & arsonist (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of gunshots, shooting at someone, others being shot, a close call, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of break-ins, crimes, & criminals; Mentions of stalkers & being stalked; Mentions of a mother leaving her abusive husband & leaving her young children with him (*Spoiler* Austin’s mother and when she came back to try again, there was a house fire and she was killed in it *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunk driving, & an alcoholic and abusive father (*Spoiler* Austin’s father and him being brutal towards Austin and his brothers; Austin feels guilt over his father’s death because he let him drive off drunk, though Austin didn’t know he was drunk because he had a high tolerance from drinking for so long, but it’s revealed at the end that his father wasn’t actually drunk *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of cancer diagnoses & someone being told they have a certain amount of time to live; Mentions of grieving (a grandfather, parents, & a daughter); Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of moose and elk being hit by cars (the cars are totaled and the injured animals disappeared); A few mentions of wars & the Holocaust; A few mentions of an ex-husband beating his ex-wife almost to death; A few mentions of plane crashes & a death; A few mentions of stolen cars; A few mentions of jail/prison; A few mentions of search and rescues for missing people; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of terrorists & them taking children; A couple mentions of bombs/explosions; A couple mentions of a man giving a woman bruises; A couple mentions of gossip; A couple mentions of divorces; A mention of someone’s daughter being involved with drugs; A mention of thugs; A mention of cigarettes; A mention of tattoos; A mention of hunting; A mention of something possibly happening to a runaway dog; A mention of animal droppings;
Sexual Content- Two detailed kisses; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Tingles, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (mainly Austin to longs for Willow, border-line barely-above-not-detailed to semi-detailed); Noticing (including Austin noticing Willow’s form-fitting jeans, barely-above-not-detailed); Willow and Austin broke-up prior to the story starting due to Austin not being willing to share about his past/secrets or his family; Mentions of affairs, cheating, & secret children; Mentions of kisses; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, & break-ups; A few mentions of flirting & flings; A couple mentions of a woman meeting a man at hotel & her willing to have his baby (unmarried); A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a family’s children being taken by terrorists for sex trafficking (the country this happened in is not named); A mention of staring at someone’s lips; A mention of a man’s possessiveness over a woman; A mention of a crush; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions.
-Willow Anderson
-Austin McKade
P.O.V. switches between them, Charlie, Katelyn (x1), & Heath (x2)
363 pages
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My personal Rating-
My first book by this author was a hit and I’m thrilled about it.
I wasn’t sure what to expect about this book; in all honesty the back-cover blurb didn’t sound the most exciting to me (mostly because I’m not a big fan of reading the second-chance romances/old flames reunited trope—more on that in a bit) but the forensic genealogist aspect of the book really intrigued me. This might be an odd thing to note, but if you’re someone who, when at a cemetery, looks at different grave markers and wonder about those people’s lives, this might be a book that would interest you. (Obviously, I’m this kind of person, but I know there has to be others like this, so I refuse to think that it’s weird.)
First things first, I really, really, really liked the writing style found in this novel. It was very much a play-by-play of every important action or event and was what really pulled me into the story.
As far as our main characters go, both Willow and Austin were good characters. He was very much that “written by a woman” male lead (a man that’s kind, respectful, and just an overall good guy that’s very much in love with the main girl), but I still liked him. He wasn’t afraid to show his emotions even though he’s keeping a lot of secrets from Willow, his ex. Like I’ve said previously, I’m not one for the second-chance romances/old flames reunited trope, but it worked well in this story. It was nice to see both of them having a faith, though the faith content was on the lighter side with only them praying and talking to God often (no discussions or comments, really). A couple kisses were a bit much for my tastes, but I do appreciate that they weren’t focused so much on the other’s physical looks.
The ending felt a little out-of-left field and a touch rushed, but I suppose that it could happen like that. I wasn’t unsatisfied by the ending, at least.
I actually paused halfway through reading this book to make sure I owned the second book in the series because it’s Heath’s story—needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to reading that one soon!
See y’all on Monday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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