Risk It All
by Katie Ruggle
Release Date: December 31, 2019
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Book #2 in the Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters series
Number of Pages: 352
Kindle
Source: Net Galley
Romantic Suspense M/F
Rating: R
Read 12/23/19 to 12/26/19
Cara Pax never wanted to be a bounty hunter. She’s happy to leave chasing criminals and tackling skips to her sisters. But if she wants her dreams of escaping the family business to come true, she’s got one last job to finish… Only problem is, she doesn’t think her bounty is guilty.
Henry Kavenski is a man with innocence to prove. When he realizes that Cara believes him, he’ll do anything to keep her out of harm’s way. Escaping criminals and dodging cops might not be the best time to fall in love, but Henry and Cara won’t give up, not when there’s a chance at a new life ahead—if they can survive the fall.
In general, I love this author’s writing. Her stories will suck you in and make you laugh, cry, and sit on the edge of your seat. For some reason, I’m not finding that to be the case as much with this series. These are still wonderful stories, but there’s something missing for me. I love the characters, I love the concept of the overarching story, as well as the stories of the individual sisters, so what’s the issue? I’m having a bit of a hard time knowing for sure, but while reading this one I think I may have come up with at least part of the reason.
Let me start by saying I’m not a point of view (POV) snob. I know some people cannot stand 1st person narratives, and some struggle with alternating views. As long as I’m enjoying the story and the writing is good, I have no problem with any POV. It’s fun to mix it up anyway. Well, these stories (so far) have been written in 3rd person, but with that 3rd person only telling things from the heroine’s side. In Ms. Ruggle’s past books I’ve read she uses 3rd person, but we see all sorts of characters along the way. So, while we know what the heroine is thinking or doing at all times, we don’t get that insight into the hero. Which, I have now found, makes it harder for me to connect. Because, like I already said, I really enjoy everything about these stories…I’m just missing a connection somewhere. I think this is that missing link for me.
On to the actual story. Cara and Henry are so cute together. I know, a weird thing to say about a potential murderer and his bounty hunter. But we all know Henry is going to be innocent at the end, and that’s not a spoiler. The author isn’t going to have one of her heroine’s fall for a bad man.
Cara’s ingenuity in the face of trouble is great. She may freeze up when it comes to Henry a time or two, but when’s she’s truly in trouble she is a little spitfire. Her brain goes a mile a minute and helps to keep her alive. Which I cannot get into too deeply or I’d be giving you spoilers, something I hate doing.
Because Cara’s brain goes a mile a minute, her mouth often does, too. Which is an advantage for Henry since he doesn’t really have to say much…Cara fills in the blanks herself. Whether she fills those blanks in correctly or not isn’t really the point. Henry lets her think what she will because it’s easier for all of them that way.
The last half of this book isn’t really what I expected, but it gave me a lot of the action I had been missing previously. I enjoyed how the story played out and, although I’m not getting as fully invested in these characters as I have the author’s other characters, I still find myself rooting for all of the sisters and their potential mates. I’ll definitely be continuing this series to see how things play out for the rest of the sisters, as well as their mother.
3.5 stars
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
All In Good Time 