Falling for the Brother
By Tara Taylor Quinn
Publisher: Harlequin Superromance
Release Date: March 1, 2018
Reviewed by Janga
Harper Davidson, newly promoted to head of security at The
Lemonade Stand, a California women’s shelter, is certain that the Miriam
Thomas, the most recent high security risk admission to the shelter, just
happens to share a name with the grandmother of her ex-husband. She is shocked
when further details reveal that the woman admitted at 2:00 a. m. with a broken
arm and multiple contusions on her chin is indeed her daughter’s cherished
great-grandmother. Harper is even more shocked to learn that Miriam was brought
to The Lemonade Stand by Mason, her oldest grandson and a special crime scene
investigator based in Los Angeles, and that he believes his younger brother,
Bruce, an undercover officer with the Albina, California Police Department, is
the abuser. Even though she divorced
Bruce after a year of marriage because of his repeated infidelities, she can’t
believe he would harm the grandmother he adores, but neither can she imagine
Mason making such a charge lightly.
Mason has stayed away from Harper since the night she found
comfort in his arms after breaking up with Bruce, her fiancé at the time, over
his infidelity. However, he has never forgotten her, and he is haunted by the
question of whether four-year-old Brianna is his niece or his daughter. He is determined
to identify his grandmother’s abuser and to protect her, but he is also
determined to protect Bruce and his career during the process. He needs
Harper’s help, and he will have to control his attraction to her and put their
personal issues on hold.
Miriam insists that her injuries were sustained in a fall.
Her life-long best friend from whom she is recently estranged is certain that
Bruce is the abuser. Mason begins to wonder if his brother is innocent and questions
if a mysterious neighbor could be the abuser. Harper is torn between her
disbelief that her ex, the father that her daughter adores, could abuse his
grandmother and the mounting evidence that she never really knew the man she
married. As Mason and Harper try to find the answers, the past casts a long
shadow over their relationship. They can’t forget. Can they move beyond guilt
and sorrow to claim a future together?
Falling for the Brother is the fourteenth
installment in Tara Taylor Quinn’s Where Secrets Are Safe series. Like the
other stories in the series, this one balances suspense, generally tied to the
abuse theme, with romance. The mystery works well in this one since the reader
shares Harper’s uncertainties. However, I would like to have seen an expanded
conclusion. The end comes very abruptly, and it is more tell than show. I found
the romance less successful, but I don’t like love triangles that involve
siblings. A reader who finds such tangled relationships more appealing will
likely enjoy the romance more than I did. The most interesting part of the
story for me was the mix of good and bad in the villain and the theme of family
love that forgives and endures.
Harlequin is phasing out the Superromance line
within the next few months, but Quinn has one more book in this long-running
series before the imprint becomes history. A
Defender’s Heart will be released June 5. Later in the summer Quinn will introduce
a new series under the Harlequin Special Edition imprint.
Thank you for the review!!!! And an update! This series is continuing in the Harlequin Romantic Suspense line! First one out in 2019! It was a perfect fit!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to see the Superromance line discontinued. They have discontinued or will soon several lines I enjoyed. I liked Superromances because they gave the authors more time to develop their characters and story line. I have not managed to catch all the books in this series, but have thoroughly enjoyed the ones I did read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting series, one I will have to check out.
ReplyDelete