Book cover for Where There is Smoke by Elisabeth Rose shows title and author and blonde-haired woman in a field.Thanks to Escape Publishing and Netgalley for an advance reading copy of Where There is Smoke in exchange for an honest review. 

Where There is Smoke by Elisabeth Rose

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Escape Publishing

Publication Date: August 20, 2019

Summary

Taylor’s Bend, Australia.

Veterinarian Oliver Johnson left behind the big-city world of wealth and influence years ago. He’s content to be a small town vet and cares deeply for the animals in his care.

Then he’s called to an accident. Thanks to an intoxicated driver’s reckless driving, a horse float has met with disaster. It’s a valuable horse from a nearby stud farm with wealthy owners. While he rescues the horse, he meets Krista Laatonen and his life’s changed.

Krista is the billionaire and stud farm owner’s stepdaughter. She’s gorgeous  . . . and difficult. Arrogant, Oliver thinks. Entitled. Exactly the type of person he loathes. And yet he’s attracted to her.

As he cares for the injured horse, he enlists Krista’s help with his patients. He also uncovers a scam involving Krista’s stepbrother Angus. Two strangers claim the horse is their boss’s. These men are not the types you’d want to cross. Neither is the boss. No one will give Krista or Oliver a straight answer about why these men are threatening them or want the horse. As they investigate, the danger escalates.

In the meantime, smoke from a distant bushfire begins to fill the air of Taylor’s Bend. And where there’s smoke, there’s fire . . .

This is second in the Taylor’s Bend series, but it works as a standalone.

My thoughts:

I read the last few chapters with a big dopey smile on my face. (Really. I checked in the mirror.) Though I’ve never considered myself a romantic suspense fan and have rarely (if ever) picked up a romance as an adult, Where There is Smoke made me happy. I wanted to keep reading. Perhaps after reading several dark novels I needed some sunshine in my reading life. Perhaps it felt like a great beach read. (Minus the beach, as I’m nowhere close to one.) Perhaps I wanted the assurance of a happily-ever-after ending awaiting me. Who knows?

This wasn’t a perfect novel. But there were things to enjoy.

I enjoyed reading the realistically-paced romance between Oliver and Krista.

I found it satisfying to see the two romantic leads take their time. Oliver, in particular, knows he must deal carefully with the insecure Krista and not rush her. He cares about her as a person, not just as a body, and it shows in their interactions.

I enjoyed the mounting suspense.

A bushfire breaks out nearby. As the novel progresses, this gradually becomes a threat to the village and the land surrounding it. That includes Hugh (Krista’s stepfather)’s luxurious house and horse farm. Elisabeth Rose makes the most of this threat and effectively uses it as both a plot development and an aspect of Krista’s character arc.

I enjoyed Krista’s character development.

(I don’t consider this a spoiler, as it’s obvious from the beginning that she must change. But just in case, you can skip this.)

At the beginning, she’s prickly, cold, and hard. But underneath, there’s a deep insecurity. She’s been fired from her job. She has few friends. Men only want her for her body.

Oliver’s secretary Margie nails it when she calls Krista “a bit of a lost soul” (chapter 5). Krista sees her beauty (which she’s incredibly insecure about) as the only meaningful aspect of herself. It’s sad.

It sounds cliched to say she needs to find herself. A series of disasters, both man-made and natural, jar her out of her constant state of helplessness and force her to develop practical skills to survive and protect others. But it also takes the love and acceptance of the people of Taylor’s Bend to help Krista see that there’s more to her than just a pretty face.

I also really liked the community of Taylor’s Bend.

Frankly, I’m not a fan of small towns; I prefer big cities. But Elisabeth Rose has created a community that feels welcoming, peopled with interesting characters who have stories of their own. The town’s newly-organized orchestra and drama group are fascinating. Their preparation for Gilbert and Sullivan’s musical Patience happens in the background of the main action. Everyone is helping out, it seems. Oliver’s been sweettalked into playing his long-neglected cello. Even Krista is roped into the action when Abbie (a character from Book 1) pleads for help painting scenery.

I expect that Elisabeth Rose has more stories to tell about the good people of Taylor’s Bend.

There are some aspects that weren’t as strong.

Viivi and Hugh, for example, often seem like stereotypes of the ultra-rich. Angus also seems like the typical rich, entitled brat with too much money and too little discipline to do anything useful with his life. (Each does gets to show a different side of themselves at one point, which saves them from being two-dimensional.)

The slower pace of Oliver and Krista’s relationship, while a plus for realism, made the last chapters slower-paced as well. While I enjoyed that, it also felt a bit anticlimatic for a suspense novel.

All in all, though, this was a good novel. It gripped my emotions and didn’t let go, and as I’ve written before, grabbing my emotions can make up for most weaknesses. If you like clean romances set in a small town, with plenty of suspense thrown in, you’ll enjoy this one.

Thanks again to Netgalley and Escape Publishing for the chance to read Where There is Smoke in exchange for an honest review.