This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR
All she has left is hope. When Kaz Elmore is told her five-year-old daughter Jamie has died in a car crash, she struggles to accept that she’ll never see her little girl again. Then a stranger comes into her life offering the most dangerous substance in the world: hope. Devlin, security consultant and witness to the terrible accident scene, inadvertently reveals that Kaz’s daughter might not have been the girl in the car after all. What if Jamie is still alive? With no evidence, the police aren’t interested, so Devlin and Kaz have little choice but to investigate themselves. Devlin never gets involved with a client. Never. But the more time he spends with Kaz, the more he desires her – and the more his carefully constructed ice-man persona starts to unravel. The desperate search for Jamie leads down dangerous paths – to a murderous acquaintance from Devlin’s dark past, and all across Europe, to Italy, where deadly secrets await. But as long as Kaz has hope, she can’t stop looking…
Devlin and Kaz can’t help their mutual attraction for each other. There is so much about him he can’t tell her and the more she discovers the less she seems to know. His past is not something he discusses with people and as Kaz slowly learns more about the man she’s trusting to help her, she has to decide if she can hold this knowledge against him. She also has secrets from her past that quickly catch up with them both and as the two realize just how much danger they’re in, each has to make decisions about their own lives and what they’re getting into.
Devlin is a darker character than usual for Choc Lit heroes, but exciting, exuding danger and very attractive. Despite his need to protect Kaz, he also wants to be as honest with her as he can possibly allow himself to be. What starts out as a problem she’s paying him resolve, turns into a cat and mouse chase across Europe and USA where no one seems to be safe from the underworld the threatens to swallow them whole.
I began the novel thinking it was an enjoyable romantic tale, only to quickly discover that this story gets darker and more tense as you read on. It’s violent, but realistic and thoroughly satisfying. Devlin is everything you want in a hero, flawed, but tough, resilient and above all, sexy. Loved it.
8/10
Never Coming Home is published by Choc Lit Publishers and as this review is part of the 'Wispa It …' blog tour they're offering a free copy of the book together with a Wispa to one lucky winner. Please leave a 'Pick Me' comment below to be in with a chance of winning. Winners will be announced next Thursday.
You can find out more about Evonne Wareham on her blog and follow her on Twitter @evonnewareham