Jake has been on leave from the Houston Police Department for 4 years searching for his daughter Noel. Noel aka Laney is 5-years-old and in kindergarten. Laney has since been adopted by Edie who owns and operates a bakery. Jake arrives at Edie’s bakery as his search for his daughter leads him there. When Edie spots Jake she sees undeniable resembles that Laney Jake share Edie is not to happy. When Jakes inquire about his daughter Noel aka Laney Edie sends him away. Laney is on her way home from school and she is kidnapped and Edie immediately suspects Jake. With that being said it brings paternal father Jake and adopted mother Edie together as they search for Noel aka Laney. With Edie and Jake spending so much time together in their search for Noel aka Laney they are each-others comfort. The two find themselves attracted to each other with chemistry brewing between them. When the couple receives information about Noel aka Laney the person of state that they have her.

As suspense is building up who kidnapped Noel / Laney in the first place, how did Edie come to adopting Noel / Laney, who kidnapped Noel / Laney a second time, will Jake and Edie get too their daughter in time, is there an HEA in store for Edie and Jake and will the trio become a family?

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Harlequin Romance Suspense and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

When Jake shows up at Laney's bakery looking for his daughter Laney is unsettled .The child looks just like her adopted daughter. When Laney's daughter goes missing her first thought is the strange man until she find out he isn't behind this and then they go on a mission to find to the missing daughter.

This was a pretty interesting book I enjoyed watching as they followed any leads they could find. This isn't Jakes first rodeo of his daughters going missing and now hurts even more being so close yet so far when she goes missing once again but now he got Laney someone as desperate as him to find her. This mothers love holds no bounds and would do everything she can to get her daughter back and figure out why the person even did this. Along with the suspense of following leads and such there was a bit of romance and steamy scene sprinkled throughout to keep things interesting. Overall I really enjoyed this book it was a pretty quick read for me.

Enjoyed this book by Karen Whiddon. Very well written. It grabbed my attention from the first page and it did not disappoint at all. Can't wait till the next one. Thank you NetGalley for letting me enjoy authors such as Karen.

Good book that grabbed my attention from the start, and didn't let go until I was finished. The book opens as Jake arrives at Edie's bakery, looking for the daughter who was kidnapped four years earlier. Edie is stunned by the resemblance to her adopted daughter, Laney, but sends the man on his way without telling him anything. What follows is a parent's worst nightmare, as Laney is abducted as she gets off the school bus.

Edie immediately suspects Jake, and he is horrified to discover that he'd been that close to finding his Noel only to have her disappear again. Jake has been on a leave of absence from his Houston police job for four years while looking for Noel. His website has received several tips, the latest pointing him to this small town. Desperate to find Laney, Edie teams up with Jake to search for her themselves.

The determination, tension, and fear leap off the pages as Amber Alerts and Jake's website provide hints that don't pan out. With both focused on finding Laney/Noel, they soon find themselves giving support and encouragement to each other. Neither expects the sparks of attraction that flare between them or the need that drives them to find comfort in each other. Nor can they forget the question of who will end up with Laney/Noel once she is found.

The tension ramps up when they receive a credible hint from someone who claims they have Laney/Noel. The hope and fear leap off the page as they face someone who believes they have a better right to Laney. I didn't see the unexpected twist in this person's claim coming. The final confrontation was intense and had me on the edge of my seat until it was over.

I loved the ending, and the epilogue was terrific. I loved seeing Jake and Edie getting to know each other better. Seeing Jake with Laney was sweet. I was rooting for good news for Jake and loved how things turned out.

This was a really good book. I really enjoyed the story and I kept me hooked from the first page. I liked Edie and Jake's relationship and how they kept each other grounded and supported each other. I look forward to more books by this author

Missing in Texas is the first novel I've read by Karen Whiddon, and as far as romantic suspense novels go, this one gets off to one heck of a rousing start with a serious and terrifying event--a child abduction, and apparently it isn't the first time this child has been abducted--if you're looking for angst, this novel has it in spades. 4 stars.

When 5-year-old, new kindergarten student, Laney, doesn't gets off the school bus where her adoptive mother, Katie, is waiting to take her home, it's panic time. As it turns out, Katie learns that Laney got off 2 stops before her usual stop to play with 2 of her school friends, but when Edie races to their house, the police are already there, and Laney is not. Her two schoolmates say that a man in a white Honda Accord dragged her into his car and drove away, and the search is on. But Edie is not alone in looking for her daughter--her biological father, Jake, has been searching for his abducted daughter, Noel, for the past 4 years, and just when he finally thinks he's found her, she's abducted again. It's a parents worst nightmare, but these two parents eventually decide to work together to try and find her, despite the fact that the police are doing all they can--they simply can't just sit around waiting, and who can blame them?

This is a tale fraught with fear, Ambert Alerts, and the ups and downs of thinking you've found your missing child, only to have that hope snatched away. In the case of Edie and Jake, a slow building attraction leads to some steamy scenes as the pair finds comfort in one another, and the slow building attraction builds as the pair helps bolster each other up. But the sex doesn't make either parent forget that they both have a stake in Laney/Noel's safe return, and they avoid discussing the elephant in the room--which parent will end up with the child they both love--the father Laney/Noel hasn't seen and doesn't remember, who was only a year old when she was abducted, or the mom she's lived with and loved for the past 4 years. Jake lives in Houston, Edie in the tiny town of Getaway, Texas, and the abductor believes himself to be the child's biological father. Lots of mysteries to solve, but you'll find no spoilers here.

If you're looking for a tense, race against time, romantic suspense read, I think you'll enjoy this one--I know I did.

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

Fast-paced romantic suspense. Searching for a missing child becomes an opportunity for romance. Nicely wrapped up at the end to become a happily ever after. I did skip the intimate scenes. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

This is a Romantic Suspense. I really liked the crazy ride that this book took me on. This is a fast paced story with non-stop action that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The characters in this book really grow on me. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Romantic Suspense) or author (Karen Whiddon) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that. This book is scheduled to be released on August 22-2023.

Missing in Texas (Harlequin Romantic Suspense) by Karen Whiddon
This is my first Karen Whiddon book and I loved it and will be looking for more. Edie and Jake are both very strong H/h and Laney means everything to both of them. There is angst, kidnapping, danger, misunderstandings, some evil, wonderful small town, teamwork, edge of your seat stuff and steam to get to a very HEA.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Happily Ever After Haunting Great world building Unpredictable Action-packed Steamy Scary Entertaining Wonderful characters Page-turner Tear-jerker Romantic Tragic Witty Easy-to-read.

Grabbing books without looking at the blurb is something I’ve been doing for a while now. I usually read by trusted authors or suspenseful romance by Harlequin. This one hit home way more than many as it dealt with the kidnapping of a child. Thankfully I had the time to read it in one sitting and mitigate the internal terror. Every mother’s nightmare. The storyline was engaging with the addition of natural disasters. The physical coming together of our mains in multiple steamy scenes felt a bit odd and unrealistic. The characters were solid though, as was the plot and the journey through conflict to resolution.

Missing in Texas is an excellent romantic suspense. A great plot and well developed characters. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.