I'm glad to be back in my Romantic Suspense era this year (2024) and glad to be back reading one of my favorite author's books, Melinda Leigh. I first read Hour of Need back in 2015 and had a hard time putting it down. I decided I needed to revisit Scarlett Falls since this was one of my favorite series from Melinda.

Thoughts: This was my second time reading this book, and it still gives me goosebumps after rereading it. It touches on some hard topics, and not just solving who murdered Grant's family. The case that Grant's brother was working on was a tough one. As a mother of two daughters, this was a tough one to read, especially when it came to the bullying and what happened to a young teenage girl. When it came to the main storyline and figuring out what truly happened to Lee Barrett and his wife, it was a shocker to see everything weave together and find out who was truly behind everything. It's definitely a story that had me thinking and may have me up at night.

The characters she writes are always different, unique, and sometimes even relatable. I connected instantly with Ellie because she's a mother who is very protective of her family. I understood her hesitation in not asking for help when she obviously needed it. Grant was a character I related to when it came to the military and having to make hard decisions when it came to serving or taking care of the children. (The military chain of command sometimes doesn't care if children are involved.)

I love that Melinda gives us several POVs in the third person, where you are solving the story with the characters but also feeling what the characters are going through. I'm used to reading the first POV in Contemporary Romances, but I also enjoy the third POV, especially when it's a Romantic Suspense. Melinda also gives you the antagonist POV, which you don't figure out later who it is, and sometimes she doesn't give you a POV for a reason because she wants to leave it as a surprise.

I gave this book five stars back in 2015, and after rereading it, it still gets five stars. I wish I could give it more. I'm onto Hannah Barrett's story next, who was introduced in this book.

Would I recommend this book/series? Yes. If you are looking for a Romantic Suspense story that takes you on a rollercoaster of a ride, then this book/series is for you.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

While fighting in Afghanistan, Major Grant Barrett receives devastating news: his brother and sister-in-law have been murdered in Scarlet Falls, the sleepy suburb of Grant’s youth. Emotionally scarred from war, the career soldier returns home on emergency leave to temporarily care for his orphaned nephew and niece. But when someone tries to kidnap the kids and their teenage babysitter, Grant knows it’s not a random act…and neither were the murders.
Already devastated by her neighbors’ violent deaths, Ellie Ross is shattered by the attempted abduction of her teenage daughter so she desperately turns to Grant for help. As they navigate a deadly search for the truth, they struggle with growing feelings for each other and Grant’s impending return to deployment.
But time is running out. The killer is growing bolder by the hour, and Ellie and Grant must find him before the children become his next victims.

*2.5 stars*

This is the first in a series of romantic suspense novels by Melinda Leigh.

Romantic suspense novels are really becoming a hit-and-miss genre for me now. This book fits into the "miss" category, simply because, in my opinion, it doesn't actually fulfill either the "romance" or the "suspense" categories.

The biggest problem I had was, once I got past the first few exciting chapters (where pretty much all the interesting things happen), the rest of the book was kinda...boring. As for the romance and suspense, let's have a look at that:

The suspense was non-existent. Anyone who had read a decent amount of mystery/crime novels would have worked out what was going on pretty quickly. I never felt any edge-of-your-seat suspense that the blurb seemed to suggest...

And the romance. Well, the romance was just as silly. I think they had sex more times than I felt any sense of chemistry between Grant and Ellie. Which is to say "any"...it was weird and awkward how these situations developed. No real time was dedicated to pulling these two together - was more about getting them between the sheets. Which sucked.

Overall, a story that neither thrilled me or excited me. It just kinda bored me.


Paul
ARH

Great start to a series! Grant and Ellie were wonderful characters and I loved seeing their relationship develop. Their devotion to their orphaned nephew and niece was touching, and I loved the interaction between all of them. This one had a nice balance of romance and suspense, and I look forward to the next one in the series.