I liked the blurb of this book but I just could not get into the book. I have tried several times even putting it down for awhile and coming back to it. It just would not hold my attention.

Bait is the second novel in Samantha Keith's Dangerous Distractions series, but it's the first one I've read, and while it wasn't a bad read, it wasn't a great read either--although it was fairly well-written, I found it so derivative, that as far as romantic suspense novels go, there wasn't much romance or much suspense, so for those reasons, and several others that I'll mention, I couldn't give this novel more than 3 stars.

For starters, Riley, the heroine, quit her job in Boston, and hurried to Beaufort, NC, when she learned that her lifelong best friend, Hanna, has disappeared. The police have no leads, but having watched enough true crime shows on TV, she knows that the longer Hanna is missing, the less chance there is of finding her alive, so, after finding Hanna's journal, she thinks she has an idea of how to catch Hanna's abductor, by using herself as bait--hence the title. The journal clued Riley in on the type of men who were hitting on Hanna at the local bars, and Riley believes that if she dresses slutty enough, and drinks enough, that one of guys who hits on her will be Hanna's abductor. Dumb, dumb, dumb idea!

Riley has zero self-defense skills, can't hold her liquor, and her new next-door neighbor, Ethan Worth, who, unbeknownst to Riley, is former military and an ex-FBI agent, is worried about her behavior, follows her, and saves her from being raped on two occasions. Is Riley grateful? Nope. She's ticked off because he interfered, and she won't give him a reason for her unusual and risky behavior. The two are physically attracted to one another, but that's pushed aside by Riley, who chooses to risk her life to save her friend and to do so alone. To say I disliked her is putting it mildly--the foolhardiness of her mission, her lack of self-defense skills, and the rude way she treats Ethan, were among the many reasons I disliked her.

Not surprising at all was that Riley soon attracts the attention of Hanna's abductor, and the fact that since little attention is paid to him as a viable suspect, makes his identity too obvious, and pretty much killed the suspense for this reader. One of the reasons I seldom read mystery novels is that I know that the culprit is usually the character who is pretty much ignored throughout the book, and that's true in this novel as well. When Ethan finds that Hanna's home, where Riley is staying, is bugged, she reluctantly stops fighting his attempts to help protect her, but again, she does so grudgingly, and only because he's got the skills to protect her, FBI connections, and is ruggedly handsome.

While I liked Ethan as a character, liked his protective nature, and came to understand some of the reasons why he left the military and the FBI, neither he nor Riley were given much depth, nor was the culprit, who wasn't even given a real reason or enough of a backstory for readers to understand why he preys on women as he does, or even what he does to them after he abducts them--a glaring omission, in my opinion.

Add to the aforementioned issues, the fact that the course of this novel, and the mystery of who abducted Hanna was so familiar and predictable, and the romance between Ethan and Riley so lightweight that it was practically nonexistent. Unless you're looking for a quick romantic suspense read without much character development, romance or suspense, I'd suggest that there are far better novels in this genre than this one. For this reader, Bait was just a so-so read.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

So, this was an average read for me. I had a difficult time understanding how the heroine thought she was going to save her best friend by placing herself in danger. Her behavior wasn't just reckless, it was silly, irresponsible, and unbelievable. There were some good parts and overall, it wasn't a bad read...just nothing new or exciting. I will read another by this author as I believe there is definitely potential

Bait is Samantha Keith’s second novel. It follows the same set of heroes as her debut novel, Abducted. Bait is less steamy than Abducted because the heroine, Riley Jones, does everything she can to avoid the hero, Ethan Worth. She has come back to town after the disappearance of her best friend, Hanna. When the police essentially give up on the search, Riley takes matters into her own hands. Though reputedly an intelligent woman, she repeatedly does totally stupid things, with one TSTL (too stupid to live) moment after another. There are a couple of inconsistencies that should have been corrected in editing. This is a good beach read.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and I loved the connection between Ethan and Riley (though it becomes another story of insta-love when the book ends). But the plot was something I had read before and I figured out who the guilty party was before I was halfway through the book.

First time in reading author but I was glad I opened this one up. In this one we meet Ethan whom will have us looking closely at him and Riley whom is on a mission. Good thing for her he is ex military and FBI that will be a plus for what she has to do. She will though disagree with my opinion and think she needs none of that. As you go in this you will be caught up in what is going on with not trying to miss any action. The suspense will slowly get to ya and you too will want answers soon. Page turner to the end with this being the kind I like to read.

Well...I was really hoping this book would draw me in more than it did. After really enjoying the first one, I found this one to be...less appealing. Maybe it was the fact that there was WAY too much recklessness involved....hmmm...

Ethan is a former FBI agent who is also one of Cal's friends from the first book in this series. After deciding to change his career, he moved in to a small town to re-evaluate what his next move would be. But he's been pretty distracted by his neighbor. She's not only easy on the eyes, but after witnessing her putting herself in a very dangerous situation, his interest has only peaked that much more. Too bad she's already told him that he's not her type.

Riley is on a mission. Her best friend has gone missing and the police have no leads, so she's decided to take matters in to her own hands. After finding her BFF's diary, she's pretty sure what type of guy took her. Add in the fact that she's now being targeted by someone and she's definitely sure her friend is still alive. But her new neighbor has gotten in the way twice while trying to find her friend. But when an accident hits too close to home, she finds herself wanting his help. In more ways than one.

The concept of this story line was good. The anticipation and drama were also good. But the way in which Riley put herself in harms way more often than not was a huge turn off for me. I'm not trying to give things away, but lets just say that for someone determined to help her friend, she sure sucked at it...LOL. All in all, like I stated earlier, the concept was there. Still a good read and I'm still looking forward to Nate's story. Jus sayin...

reviewed by Chris

Riley runs a fine line between being brave and reckless. Ethan becomes more than a neighbor. Lucky for Riley he is like a dog with a bone. He won't let it go.
Bait, kept me guessing the whole time.

3 1/2 stars out of 5
Samantha Keith creates a story that has potential but ends up needing more help than readers might be able to stand.

Questions

how man times can one woman get hit over the head, drunk, almost killed before someone steps in to help?

When reading this book please tell me I was not the only yelling at the Riley telling her to stop?

Why is Riley so hung up on a guy that she refuses his help over and over again.

Riley is suppose to me smart but she never once uses her head each for getting hit. She refuses help, tries to save her friend by getting drunk with guys who will rape her. On top of that the one person that scream crazed killer is the one person she refuses to knowledge.

It would be almost laughable if the author didn't put so much heart and soul into the story.

This is the story I would tell Romantic Suspense avoid this style of story. While it has promise it falls on every single romantic suspense cliche. Its a fast summer read with you typical cast of characters and ends just as you imagine it would.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Lyrical Liaison for the advance copy of Samantha Keith Bait

With a little more focus and mystery this story could have been a 4 out of 5 instead it was predictable and lacked focus.

Riley moves back to her hometown after her best friend disappears. She lives in her house and after reading some of her friends journal, starts going to bars and trying to find the man she described. Ethan just quit his job with the FBI and is vacationing in North Carolina. He rents a house next to Riley and has rescued her twice when she’s been out and drunk. She doesn’t want rescuing but Ethan doesn’t know that. Riley finally starts to thaw towards Ethan, when he tells her he’ll help her look for her friend. The
police are no help and then Riley starts getting notes and other things start to happen to her. Then they get closer to who kidnapped Hannah, her friend, and Riley gets taken too. Ethan will do anything to get her back and love her forever.
This is the most heart pounding, sexy, suspenseful book I’ve read in awhile. I thought I knew who the bad guy was and BOOM! I was totally shocked. I read this story in a couple of hours. Could not put it down. This is one story you don’t want to miss.

* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for Netgalley *

I enjoyed this as a light easy read. The story was predictable and the characters were nothing new in a romantic suspense. I was hoping for more, but it was just okay.