In an effort to read more books on my TBR shelf, I chose Obsession by Patricia Bradley, book 2 in her Natchez Trace Park Rangers series. The choice was made easier by the fact I will be reviewing book 3, Crosshairs in December. 😉 I really enjoyed this romantic suspense. The characters were engaging and the mystery kept me guessing. It is definitely a recommended read.
Natchez Trace Ranger and historian Emma Winters hoped never to see Sam Ryker again after she broke off her engagement to him. But when shots are fired at her at a historical landmark just off the Natchez Trace, she’s forced to work alongside Sam as the Natchez Trace law enforcement district ranger in the ensuing investigation. To complicate matters, Emma has acquired a delusional secret admirer who is determined to have her as his own. Sam is merely an obstruction, one which must be removed.
Sam knows that he has failed Emma in the past and he doesn’t intend to let her down again. Especially since her life is on the line. As the threads of the investigation cross and tangle with their own personal history, Sam and Emma have a chance to discover the truth, not only about the victim but about what went wrong in their relationship.
Winner of an Inspirational Readers Choice Award, Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi and is a former abstinence educator and co-author of RISE To Your Dreams, an abstinence curriculum.
But her heart is tuned to suspense. Patricia’s romantic suspense books include the Logan Point series set in Mississippi and two sweet romances for Harlequin Heartwarming, Matthew’s Choice and The Christmas Campaign that are available on Amazon.
When she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.
My Impressions:
Obsession by Patricia Bradley takes the reader back to the Natchez Trace and the rangers who preserve its history as well as protect the people that travel the famous pathway. The second book in the series features Emma Winters, a park service historian and Sam Ryker, her old flame, who is back in Natchez as the district’s chief law enforcement officer. Their romance ended a decade before after Emma’s twin brother went missing. While there’s no bad blood between the two, each one is reticent to renew the acquaintance. But when Emma is shot at during a night time visit to a historic site, the two are thrown together to uncover just what is going on. This novel was very suspenseful, especially since the reader is given repeated glimpses into the deranged mind of the bad guy. His identity isn’t revealed until the end, so I was kept guessing along with Emma and Sam. There were 3 very plausible suspects, and I had a hard time figuring out just whodunit! I really liked that — it kept me engaged in the mystery and turning the pages furiously. There’s great chemistry between Emma and Sam, although it took them some time to admit it. They have a lot of hurt feelings, grief, and guilt to get through. Forgiveness is a major theme, and not just for the two main characters. I lived in Mississippi during college, grad school, and my first job upon graduation, and traveled the Trace a lot (my then boyfriend/now husband lived 2 hours away). It was great revisiting old haunts.
While Obsession can be read as a standalone, I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series with Standoff. With the third and final book, Crosshairs, coming out in a few days, you will have a lot of great reading ahead!
Recommended.
Audience: adults.
(Thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
I really enjoyed this one as well 🙂