RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE POWER OF LOVE AND MURDER (Love and Murder Series Book #4) by Brenda Whiteside is a Romantic suspense with political corruption, a thirteen year old murder mystery and a touch of romance. This book does stand well on its own even though it is book #4 of the series.
Penny Sparks has been hiding under a new identity for thirteen years. Her father, mother and brother were all murdered execution style when her father tried to report illegal activities in the company he worked for. Penny has all the information in her photographic memory and a SIM card with a photo of the car in front of her family home during the murder, but she has been too afraid to use any of the proof.
Jake Winters, ex-rocker is out of rehab and comes to Flagstaff to reunite and make amends with his sister, Penny’s roommate. Jake and Penny hit it off, even though they had a bad encounter before Jake’s rehab. Now Jake wonders if Penny might be the person to bring him balance and help him find his new normal after rock star status.
When Penny longs for her real family during the holiday season, and she no longer feels the killer will be interested in her, she sends off an email to her aunt under her roommates email address. The killer is still interested. His boss is now thinking of running for president and Penny could destroy him.
As the killer tracks Penny down, Jake vows to help and protect her as they both work to uncover the killer and expose the truth of the corruption and the murder of Penny’s family.
I enjoyed this book. Jake and Penny’s relationship, I felt, was realistically portrayed especially towards the end. I felt the break in the relationship was necessary. I was also glad Jake and Penny went through the system for help and did not suddenly become superheroes on their own. I did feel the suspense plot was interesting with a killer, who actually had motives that made you feel (at least a little) sorry for him, but I also did not feel it was realistic. An entertaining, fast Romantic suspense read.
Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.
