This book moves along at a pretty fast pace, which I wasn’t sure I’d like but the way it plays out was actually really well done. Josie and Quin were loveable characters and their chemistry/relationship, despite the elephant in the room, was handled perfectly. Very much looking forward to Dead of Summer.

Dead of Spring is the second novella in Samantha Wilde's Whistlemore series. Having read and enjoyed her first book in the series, Dead of Winter, when I had the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of this novel, I grabbed it, and I enjoyed it even more than Dead of Winter. While I generally prefer longer novels to novellas, this one-sitting read had me hooked from the very first page and classifying it as romantic suspense is putting it mildly because this is also one heck of a suspenseful, action-packed, mystery, as well as an emotionally gripping romance too, and it gets 5 stars from this reader.

Josie, the heroine, is a Whistlemore native, and as the novella opens, she's being watched by Quin, as she and her 2 closest girlfriends are celebrating their monthly full-moon event around a campfire. It's been almost a year since the untimely and accidental death of Liam, Josie's lover, at the lumber company he owned with two friends, and she's still mourning his loss. Quin was Liam's best friend and a partner in the lumber company, and he left town not long after Liam's death, after being blamed for arson when the local watering hole/diner went up in flames 8 months earlier, and after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

But now Quin is back, having sneaked back into Whistlemore to tell Josie that Liam's death wasn't an accident, it was murder, and he believes he can prove it. It's at this point where this story really takes off and the action and suspense really amps up, as does the attraction between Quin and Josie, confusing her since Quin always kept his feelings for her to himself, and because she still feels as though she hasn't fully come to terms with Liam's death. She's not sure what to make of Quin's assertion that Liam was murdered, but when she's nearly run down and killed while out jogging, she begins to realize that Quin might just be onto something.

Ms. Wilde has given the reader enough possible suspects to keep you guessing, enough danger, and quite a steamy romance too, and to tell you more would spoil it for you, but I can tell you that you're in for one edge-of-your-seat read, and I highly recommend it. Frankly, I'm eagerly awaiting the next book in this series, Dead of Summer.

As stated at the outset, I read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

Dead of Spring is the 2nd novella in the Whistlemore Series by Ms. Wilde and it's another quick, fast read but it packs a punch! This one is Josie and Quin's story and it's a bittersweet, emotional read--at least it was for me. The story moves quickly and has quite a bit of suspense, but not quite as much nail-biting suspense as Dead of Winter, the 1st book in this series. If you love romantic suspense and you're looking for a fast weekend read, this fits the bill. I always enjoy Ms. Wilde's writing style and the Whistlemore Series is no exception. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

I always think of novellas as the hors d'eouvres of the writing world. A small appetiser before the main course. I discovered Samantha Wilde earlier this year and have enjoyed her backlist so was thrilled to have another read of hers.

It is always a struggle, in my mind, for an author to set an even pace for the romance, suspense and mystery elements that all have to be wrapped up in roughly 100 pages and I think for the most part Ms Wilde succeeded. Here we have Josie who lost her partner Liam a year ago and whose friend Quin quickly left town shortly afterwards, only to return at the start of the novella. Josie was initially ambivalent towards Quin, feeling that he had deserted her and left her to deal with Liam's death alone but that didn't last long as the mystery/suspense kicked in and the pace ratcheted up, as well as the romance. This was the only part I really had a hard time with. Liam hadn't passed less than a year before and in a short time Josie was half in love with Quin and ready to start a new relationship. Yes, this is fiction but for me I found this part a little hard to understand and believe. If Quin had been gone for 2 years that would have been more realistic to me - a year was far too soon, but your mileage may vary.

Having said that, the mystery and suspense kept me turning the pages and the twist at the end was well done - I did not see that coming! I always enjoy it when an author is that one little step ahead of my suspicious mind! So, looking forward to the third book of this trilogy.

I received an ARC via Netgalley and the author. Thank you.

I really enjoyed this story. It drew me in and kept me turning the page waiting to see what happened next. There was a bit of suspense, there was tension, and the characters came alive on the page. I look forward to more in this series!.

The story started off interesting but after a few chapters it was clear what / who the villain was and it just seemed long to get to the resolution.

Dead of Spring, is a great who did it type book. It is a quick read so perfect for a weekend or vacation.

It’s been a year since Liam, Josie’s boyfriend was killed in an accident at their logging company. Quin, Liam’s best friend and business partner, shows up on Josie’s doorstep. He left several months after the accident because he was accused of burning down a bar. He thinks Liam’s death was no accident and has come back to prove it. Somebody tries to run over Josie and then she is kidnapped and Quin will do whatever it takes to get her back.
Great story. Suspense and sexy. Friends to lovers. I had a feeling about who the killer was but wasn’t sure. I’ll have to check out the rest in the series. I loved it.

* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for NetGalley *

The book is a romantic thriller. A quick and fast paced read. The plot and writing was very average. The romance and suspense is not very believable

This book was ok. It was a really fast read, a little too fast. It went from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye I feel. It had a pretty intense twist toward the end that I was not expecting. I feel like we didn't get to know the main characters, and this was just a small excerpt taken from a moment of some strangers you just met. All in all, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't too great either.

Samantha Wilde is a new-to-me-author and ‘Dead of Spring’ is a short and sharp distraction of a novella that helps you wind your way off the beaten-track of life for a few hours before leading you back to it. I picked this up because the blurb was my kind of thing with that hint of the forbidden, with some suspense thrown into it.

And generally, it was an average read all around; Quin/Josie did seem a convincing pair though it felt like an instant-lust/love type given the length of the novella, though that didn’t come without the prerequisite troubles in their way. In the end, I’d could accept their HEA, but wondered at the strength of their connection past the dramatic climax.

There were some odd elements (certain pieces of dialogue, phrasing, contextual clues, even the characters’ way of thinking and expressions) which I couldn’t exactly reconcile with the entirety of the story as it did feel as though I was plopped straight in the centre of an ongoing drama and had only a small glimpse of a romance section within. That did contribute somewhat to the implausibility of the plot and some things didn’t add up exactly with the picture I’d built up by the time I’d finished the book, or maybe there were just some questions I had left that just weren’t adequately addressed at all.

Still, a fast read if you want a quickie of sorts, more so if you're able to keep that suspension of disbelief throughout.