GRR Reviews Luke (Brazo's Bend) by Emily March

Luke is a contemporary romantic suspense that featured interesting main characters and colorful secondary characters. While the plot was not bad, it felt somewhat trope-filled by the end.

DEA agent Luke Callahan was forced to quit the force after going after the killer of his partner Terry personally. Now all he wanted was to go fishing with his brother ... Until he found Maddie Kincaid stowed away on his houseboat... apparently sent by his father (whom he cannot stand). Maddie Kincaid was accustomed to trouble... she was the daughter of a famous rock star couple that she had to have her name legally changed to avoid the paparazzi and prefers to have a normal life in a tiny little town... Luke's hometown, Brazos Bend. But when she cleaned up an old neighbor's house, she found enough magic mushrooms worth MILLIONS, then the old neighbor wound up dead, so she ran, and was pointed toward Luke by Luke's father, Branch, who's still in town. Luke found Maddie to be irresistible, but being sent by his father puts a damper on things. He agrees to look into the problem, and stumbled into a conspiracy, for there was a killer in Brazos Bend, who had killed before, and even in a small town, there were a lot of secrets that people want to stay buried...

The characters' layers were revealed nicely as is the mystery.was also peeled layer by layer like an onion. There were also several red herrings. Though the resort to an old trope to create the darkest hour and subsequent resolution was why this wasn't 5/5

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Woman found not quite legal stuff at neighbor's place, now neighbor's dead, and she fears she's next, but the man who may help her doesn't want to help, and she has secrets too...

Tropes: different worlds, small town, evil parents, conspiracy, disguise

Overall Rating: 4/5