RATING: 3 our of 5 Stars
CONNECTING STRANGERS (Discovering Emily #1) by Rachel Carrington is a Contemporary romance with an element of suspense. It is also the first in a series with a small cliffhanger to entice you to continue on in the series.
Emily Jacobs is on the run from an abusive boyfriend with powerful connections. She leaves with nothing and is lucky enough to find a woman who understands her, her situation and wants to help. She also seems to have attracted the eye of the handsome sheriff, Adam Madison. There is an instant attraction. Emily has secrets, but so does the sheriff. Can the two come together and overcome an ex on the hunt for revenge?
The story has some interesting characters, both good and bad. The small town feeling of acceptance and warmth where Emily ends up was a great contrast to where she came from. I hope there are people like Francine out there in the world.
Ms. Carrington’s writing style was very readable, but there were too many tropes and unbelievable situations for me to really get into this story. Emily was a character that I wanted to empathize with and cheer on to a HEA, but an instant attraction put me off. Personally, I would have preferred a guardian relationship and then a growth into attraction over the story arc. I also had a problem with how often she fought the help she was offered. Even if she was afraid of her ex finding her and felt she was putting others in danger, she had nothing.
For me this was just an O.K. read for which I had to suspend realistic belief one too many times. The author’s characters and writing style are what kept me reading, but I will not be continuing on in this series.
Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.
