January 2020 Book of the Month Giveaway
February 19, 2020 12:36 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I don’t know that I’ve ever featured the same author two months in a row for my Book of the Month, but such is the case this time around. Out of the five novels and two short stories I read in January, only one hit that all-important five-star rating to become my Book of the Month, but it was a totally awesome romantic suspense story that was an absolute pleasure to read. In this one, we have psychiatrist Tess Ciccotelli whose patients begin committing suicide. It’s pretty obvious to police detective Aidan Reagan right away that they were deliberately driven over the edge, and it looks like Tess is the one who did it. Tess isn’t exactly loved by the police department, so at first, Aidan is all too eager to nail her to the wall. But as more evidence comes to light, he realizes that she couldn’t possibly have done it, and the more he gets to know her, he finds that he actually likes her. When they discover that her apartment is being surveilled, he offers her a safe place to stay, which makes things really heat up between them. In the meantime, the bodies keep piling up, and neither the cops nor Tess have any idea who hates her so much that they would go to such lengths to ruin her life.
Tess is a smart, talented psychiatrist who cares very much about her patients. However, she has a troubled relationship with her family, not having spoken with any of them except her brother, Vito, in five years. After handing down a medical opinion that a man who killed three children and a cop was mentally unfit to stand trial, she also has few fans in the police department. She does, however, have a number of friends and allies, including Aidan’s partner and his sister-in-law. So when it looks like she might have driven her patients to commit suicide, they’re squarely in her corner, making it a bit easier for Aidan to swallow her innocence, even though he isn’t eager to at first. Tess is a deeply layered character who has many facets to her personality. Because she tends to hold her emotions in check, especially in professional settings, Aidan and many of the other cops think she has ice-water in her veins, but she’s actually a kind, caring person who feels responsible for all the deaths that are occurring around her. When she and Aidan begin to grow closer, she also proves to be a very passionate woman. Yet she wasn’t always that way. Her relationship with her ex was rather reserved and at times strained, ending with him cheating on her, which shook her confidence as well as her faith in men. But Aidan proves to be everything she’s looking for and more.
Aidan can be a slightly hot-headed alpha, who begins the story with a chip on his shoulder when it comes to Tess. He was the person who found one of the girls who was murdered by the man she declared insane, and he simply can’t forgive her for what he feels amounted to “letting the guy off the hook.” Because of this, I wasn’t sure at first if I would like him, but I ended up loving him. He might get a bit heated at times, but he does prove to have self-control over most situations. He also shows himself to be more open-minded and reasonable than I thought he’d be. In contrast to Tess, Aidan has a close relationship with his family and is always playing the protective big brother to his much younger sister, Rachel. Even after he believes in her innocence, Aidan is a bit reluctant to get involved with Tess, when he first realizes that he’s very attracted to her. Because of her job and where she lives, he thinks she’s probably a snob who would be a high-maintenance woman. As it turns out, his perceptions are colored by a bad experience with his own ex, and he’s surprised to find out he’s wrong about Tess. But all this just made him a more interesting character, and one that I could still respect because he was willing to admit his own faults.
Overall, I was completely blown away by this book. It was a masterfully plotted psychological thriller with murder and mayhem aplenty that kept me totally engaged throughout. As I tried to discern who the killer was, I bounced around from one character to another, but I never did figure it out until the reveal. I’m also absolutely in awe of Karen Rose’s ability to keep all her characters straight and to wrangle them into submission while giving each of them the perfect motivation for their actions, which also made each of them stand out to me. The story itself was completely phenomenal and one of my favorites by this author that I’ve read so far. I loved Aidan and Tess’s relationship and felt like they were the perfect match in intelligence, temperament, and sexual chemistry, all three. I loved them together and felt like their romance was spot-on with the emotional connection, too. Everything about this book was sheer perfection and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. That’s why I’m naming Karen Rose’s You Can’t Hide as my January Book of the Month. If you enjoy nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense that will keep you guessing right up until the reveal coupled with a romance that’s deep, emotional, and passionate, then you should definitely give this book a try. Keep reading to learn how you can win a copy for your own library.
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Cover Blurb- Terror has forever changed the life of psychiatrist Tess Ciccotelli. Someone is tormenting her patients, pushing them to commit suicide, and setting her up to take the blame. But Tess can't break her oath to protect her patients' privacy at all costs. Even when detective Aidan Reagan demands a list of everyone she's treating. Even when the mounting danger threatens Tess herself. |
Read my complete review of You Can’t Hide.
Giveaway
If you would like to win a copy of You Can’t Hide to see how wonderful it is for yourself, just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below. One lucky winner will receive their choice of an eBook or print copy of the book. If the winner chooses an eBook, I will gift it to them via the eBook retailer of their choice (Amazon or B & N). If the winner chooses a print copy, I will have it mailed directly to them via Amazon. Good luck!
International Entrants: You are welcome to enter my contest, but please note that not all eBooks are available in all countries due to copyright restrictions. If this is the case, Amazon does offer an option to trade for a gift card (I'm not sure about B & N). If you choose print, I can mail it to you via the Amazon website that services your country, pending availability and cost. Otherwise I will mail it to you via U. S. Amazon's standard international shipping, but it may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive, and I may not have the capability of tracking the package.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Karen Rose
