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thegreatandwonderfulbookwitch's review against another edition
3.0
I don't think I realized this was an incest book when I started it. I finished it anyway because the story started out pretty decent, but then turn a turn for the worst. The first half is decent writing, but the climax is pretty shoddily written and the wrap up isn't great either. The romance is also pretty sad, and I don't even like romance. I would definitely not read another book by this author.
bvonmavnan's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
chartsh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
ezichinny's review
3.0
3.5 stars
This was a second chance at love romantic suspense. Beth Veneable witnessed a murder by a crime lord. She was put into witness protection but after 3 compromised safe house stays, Beth decided to take her chances on her own. Her attempt to stay alive takes her back home to Rebel Ridge, the home she fled 10 years ago as well as her first love Ryal.
Ryal has a 10 yr grudge against Beth, but her life is more important right now. But can he forgive her for breaking his heart?
It was a well written simple story. It was suspenseful and interesting storyline. The secret that made them run surprised me because I didn't think you could keep secrets in a small town. Obviously Beth didn't have any friends because she was the only one out of loop.
I thought she should have grovelled more but I guess Ryal is a gentlemen and didn't want to make her beg.
This was a second chance at love romantic suspense. Beth Veneable witnessed a murder by a crime lord. She was put into witness protection but after 3 compromised safe house stays, Beth decided to take her chances on her own. Her attempt to stay alive takes her back home to Rebel Ridge, the home she fled 10 years ago as well as her first love Ryal.
Ryal has a 10 yr grudge against Beth, but her life is more important right now. But can he forgive her for breaking his heart?
It was a well written simple story. It was suspenseful and interesting storyline. The secret that made them run surprised me because I didn't think you could keep secrets in a small town. Obviously Beth didn't have any friends because she was the only one out of loop.
I thought she should have grovelled more but I guess Ryal is a gentlemen and didn't want to make her beg.
tita_noir's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty decent audiobook listen with some interesting suspense elements.
Just like in another Sharon Sala book I've read, Mimosa Grove, I like that unpredictable things happen to the bad guy's plans. It isn't a straight line with predictable results to get to the climax of the story.
The lion's share of the book focuses on the suspense story with Beth being a witness to a murder committed by a member of an organized crime organization. He will stop at nothing to stop her from testifying. She realizes the FBI can't protect her so she retreats to the mountains of her Kentucky hometown where she has a passel load of cousins who will help keep her safe. And give he big city bad guys what for if they come to call. Which they do. And what a 'what for' they get as a welcome. That was pretty fun to read.
There is also a romance but it is a reunion romance of sorts and there is very little suspense about it. Basically the hero/heroine get back together fairly quickly and easily (after some communication and clearing up of misunderstandings).
Just like in another Sharon Sala book I've read, Mimosa Grove, I like that unpredictable things happen to the bad guy's plans. It isn't a straight line with predictable results to get to the climax of the story.
The lion's share of the book focuses on the suspense story with Beth being a witness to a murder committed by a member of an organized crime organization. He will stop at nothing to stop her from testifying. She realizes the FBI can't protect her so she retreats to the mountains of her Kentucky hometown where she has a passel load of cousins who will help keep her safe. And give he big city bad guys what for if they come to call. Which they do. And what a 'what for' they get as a welcome. That was pretty fun to read.
There is also a romance but it is a reunion romance of sorts and there is very little suspense about it. Basically the hero/heroine get back together fairly quickly and easily (after some communication and clearing up of misunderstandings).
emilyhei's review against another edition
4.0
"Thrilling page turner, Next of Kin grabs readers attention from the first page and keeps you hooked until the very end."
Full review on Single Titles
http://singletitles.com/?p=6627
Full review on Single Titles
http://singletitles.com/?p=6627
rosepetals1984's review against another edition
2.0
"Next of Kin" is the very first book by Sharon Sala I've ever read, so I can't say that I'm familiar with her work other than the fact that I received this as a galley in 2011 and am just now having the opportunity to read it (I'm working through a rather long backlog). It gets two stars because it pulled me into the story for its suspense/thriller elements.
Its a story about a woman who witnesses a murder from her window, sort of in a "Rear Window" type way. Beth watches a couple arguing and then watches as the man in the argument slits the throat of his ex-wife. Beth works as an illustrator so when her friend calls the police, she's able to give them a sketch and identify the guy. But little does Beth know that the murderer is a major mob boss whom the police have been watching for ages. Any attempts to report against the guy are either intimidated or killed as far as witness testimony is concerned. Beth survives three attempts against her life, before calling her uncle and returning to the one place she would rather not be - back home to where she left a lover behind ten years ago.
The action sequences and tension are decent, as were the multiple perspective points (predictable some of them might have been), but the romance irked me. I could've read this through a mental filter in that the hero (Ryal) and heroine (Beth) were supposed to have a purported romantic relationship since he was 25 and she was 17, and the fact they were distant cousins. But it was the fact that this notation kept popping up throughout the text over and over again that it really turned me off and I didn't like it at all. It felt like it was trying to constantly justify the relationship and force feed it. That threw me out of the story a few times as I read it. I also, to be blunt about it, didn't really see the connection between them all that much. Despite the letters Beth never got, despite the rather forthright love scenes, I just felt a disconnect in that measure through the entire narrative.
In the end, it was just an okay read. It's not one of the best blend of suspense/thriller/romance stories I've perused, but I took it for what it was worth, and it kept me reading. But there were flaws and things that bothered me and kept me from rating it higher.
Overall score: 2/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Harlequin MIRA.
Its a story about a woman who witnesses a murder from her window, sort of in a "Rear Window" type way. Beth watches a couple arguing and then watches as the man in the argument slits the throat of his ex-wife. Beth works as an illustrator so when her friend calls the police, she's able to give them a sketch and identify the guy. But little does Beth know that the murderer is a major mob boss whom the police have been watching for ages. Any attempts to report against the guy are either intimidated or killed as far as witness testimony is concerned. Beth survives three attempts against her life, before calling her uncle and returning to the one place she would rather not be - back home to where she left a lover behind ten years ago.
The action sequences and tension are decent, as were the multiple perspective points (predictable some of them might have been), but the romance irked me. I could've read this through a mental filter in that the hero (Ryal) and heroine (Beth) were supposed to have a purported romantic relationship since he was 25 and she was 17, and the fact they were distant cousins. But it was the fact that this notation kept popping up throughout the text over and over again that it really turned me off and I didn't like it at all. It felt like it was trying to constantly justify the relationship and force feed it. That threw me out of the story a few times as I read it. I also, to be blunt about it, didn't really see the connection between them all that much. Despite the letters Beth never got, despite the rather forthright love scenes, I just felt a disconnect in that measure through the entire narrative.
In the end, it was just an okay read. It's not one of the best blend of suspense/thriller/romance stories I've perused, but I took it for what it was worth, and it kept me reading. But there were flaws and things that bothered me and kept me from rating it higher.
Overall score: 2/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Harlequin MIRA.
librarianryan's review
2.0
I will preface this by saying that I usually like Sharon Sala. This title just rubbed me the wrong way. Beth is on the run from the Mob who wants her dead. She heads back to her family home on Rebel Ridge, this small country town where everyone is related. And I mean everyone. Beth was in love with her cousin by marriage Ryal when they were teenagers. They meant everything to each other a decade ago, but what will happen now. Beth needs the safety of her family if she expects to grow old, but her family was not approving of her relationship with Ryal. If the author had just mentioned once or twice that the main characters are cousins by marriage, it would not have been that bad, but it is something that is constantly played up. “Hey were cousins, and this is wrong”. That alone just made the story too hard to read. You just could not get away from that information. Overall this is a book I could leave behind on a plane and not care.
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