Reckless by Selena Montgomery

 

Stacey Abrams is kind of a hero to me, so naturally when I found out that she wrote romance novels under the name Selena Montgomery, I had to track them down. When I managed to get a copy of DECEPTION from a Little Free Library, I went ahead and bought RECKLESS on Kindle straightaway so I could read the duology back to back.

There are some things I really liked about RECKLESS. First, it's one of those stories where a woman with a tough childhood comes back to her town as an adult to confront the past and solve a mystery, which is one of my favorite tropes. Second, Kell, the heroine, is a tough-as-nails woman who is a powerful attorney but still filled with some insecurities about her past that she attempts to compensate for by being cold and difficult, which is one of my favorite types of heroines. Third, the mystery is really good. It involves shady organizations, orphans, corruption, murder, and all sorts of other good stuff.

Sadly, the weakest part of this romance for me was, ironically, the romance. I really didn't care for Luke all that much. He wasn't great, he wasn't offensive, he was just there. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between him and the lead at all, and unlike some of the romantic suspense I read, where I find myself wishing there was more romance, I found myself wishing that there was more focus here on the crime.

I read the whole book and was interested in the outcome of the story and it was so refreshing to read a romantic suspense that feels so grounded in reality. But I would read this more for the mystery than the romance as there isn't a whole lot of romance and what there is isn't all that great.

Still excited to read the sequel, though! I understand it's about Fin! :D

3 out of 5 stars