Under Cover Of Dark by Juanita Kees

By: Unknown on Monday, September 01, 2014

Title:  Under Cover Of Dark
Series:  Tag Raiders #2
Author:  Juanita Kees
Published:  Aug 1/14 by Escape Publishing
Length:  149pgs
Format:   ecopy
Genre:  romantic suspense
Shelf:  netgalley
Rating:  ★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

New Australian romantic suspense follows Under the Hood, about a Western Australian drug gang, the teenagers they recruit, and the cop who wants to bring them down.

When Mark Johnson delves deeper into his investigation into the murder of Tiny Watts, and the involvement of a teenage gang with sleazy lawyer Gino Bennetti and his drug world ties, the last thing he expects is to be interviewing Gino’s widow, a woman in a world of trouble.

When her husband is shot and killed, it is both a relief and a disaster. Lily has her son to protect and secrets that run deeper than the scars she bears. Mark Johnson is the last person she wants uncovering those secrets, especially the truth about her son Luke’s involvement in Tiny Watts’s murder.

As the investigation continues and Lily’s wounds begin to heal, she finds the detective easy to trust and the friendship between them blossoms into more. But the secret Lily holds places everyone in very real danger. When it is finally revealed, Lily will lose everything: her son, the man she’s grown to love, her freedom and her life.

My Review:

Kees has developed a solid storyline that is not only easy to follow, but easy to believe. She brings her characters to the forefront of a such a manner that you really want to help them solve their issues. I found myself trying to draw connections between the various player in the story, attempting to figure out who was doing what. The complex connections were quite stimulating. There were also a few suspenseful moments, making me wonder how it would end.

The cast of characters in this novel is fairly well developed. The male lead definitely made me laugh more than once. He was stuck between a rock & a hard place. It’ was great. The female lead goes from whiny and snivelling to insecure but ready to stand up for herself. The gradual shift throughout the novel, as well as the development into her background made this both believable & fairly easy to swallow. Even if her whining did get on my nerves a couple of times, I understood where she was coming from. I love the fact that although the teen is in trouble, he isn’t just thrown to the dogs or simply protected. The author has steps in place to help him overcome his terrible situation.

As a whole this was an enjoyable novel. It was a bit slow at the beginning, but always heartfelt and quite emotional.

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