Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls)

by Melinda Leigh

A 2015 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

While fighting in Afghanistan, Major Grant Barrett receives devastating news: his brother and sister-in-law have been murdered in Scarlet Falls, the sleepy suburb of Grant’s youth. Emotionally scarred from war, the career soldier returns home on emergency leave to temporarily care for his orphaned nephew and niece. But when someone tries to kidnap the kids and their teenage babysitter, Grant knows it’s not a random act…and neither were the murders.

Already devastated by her neighbors’ violent deaths, Ellie Ross is shattered by the attempted abduction of her teenage daughter so she desperately turns to Grant for help. As they navigate a deadly search for the truth, they struggle with growing feelings for each other and Grant’s impending return to Afghanistan.

But time is running out. The killer is growing bolder by the hour, and Ellie and Grant must find him before the children become his next victims.

Bestselling author Melinda Leigh delivers another gritty mystery simmering with spine-tingling passion in this first Scarlet Falls novel.

• ISBN10: 1477827072
• ISBN13: 9781477827079
• Publish Date: 9 December 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Montlake Romance
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



Hour of Need by Melinda Leigh was recommended to me by one of the women in the COYER FaceBook group. It wasn't picked for our book club so Anne and I decided to buddy read it. I borrowed it from Kindle Unlimited and I loved that the audiobook was available too. I actually listened to about half of this on audio while I worked on my diamond painting.

I really enjoyed Hour of Need. It's been awhile since I've read a romantic suspense and this one hit the spot. There were a lot of twists in the last 25% of the book or so and I didn't see any of them coming. That is one of my biggest requirements for reading a romantic suspense. I have to be able to be surprised. If I'm not it tends to leave me a little bored. I was not bored at all here.

Grant and Ellie make a good couple and I was really pleased with their story arc. Of course they had a lot going on but Leigh still found time to develop their relationship. I also appreciated that they had to work for it a little bit.

The only issue that I had and it is a small one for me is that the characters were pretty black and white. Each character was clearly good or clearly evil and they stayed on that path throughout the story. There is some back story to the baddie but it doesn't really add to the scale so much because you are to believe that he is evil and nothing more.

I liked this book quite a lot. It kept my attention and the narration for the parts that I did listen to was great. Anne and I decided to go ahead and buddy read the next book in the series for May. I'm looking forward to it!

[Amanda]

3.5