Till Death

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

In New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout's gripping new novel, a young woman comes home to reclaim her life-even as a murderer plots to end it...It's been ten years since Sasha Keaton left her West Virginia hometown ...since she escaped the twisted serial killer known as the Groom. Returning to help run her family inn means being whole again, except for one missing piece. The piece that falls into place when Sasha's threatened-and FBI agent Cole Landis vows to protect her the way he couldn't a decade ago. First one woman disappears; then another, and all the while, disturbing calling cards are left for the sole survivor of the Groom's reign of terror. Cole's never forgiven himself for not being there when Sasha was taken, but he intends to make up for it now ...because under the quirky sexiness Cole first fell for is a steely strength that only makes him love Sasha more. But someone is watching. Waiting. And Sasha's first mistake could be her last.

• ISBN10: 006236278X
• ISBN13: 9780062362780
• Publish Date: 9 March 2017 (first published 28 February 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: William Morrow
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[lizarodz]

Quite the Novel Idea https://quitethenovelidea.com https://quitethenovelidea.com/lizas-spooky-review-till-death-jennifer-l-armentrout/I've read a few of Armentrout's books before and I've loved them all, but this is the first adult mystery that I read by her and I think she nailed in the head.  She's such a talented, prolific and versatile author ;)

Ten years ago Sasha was kidnapped, tortured, raped and terrorized by a serial killer called The Groom (thankfully, the book is not too descriptive here).  The Groom was killed after Sasha - the only survivor - escaped by cheer luck and her ingrained desired to live.  Now, she's returning home, to a small town in Virginia, to help her mom with the family's Bed and Breakfast.  Being back home is wonderful, her mom, her best friend Miranda, the ornery cook James, and most importantly, Cole are happy to see her.

However, almost immediately strange things start to happen.  Sasha's car gets vandalized, women disappear, she's pushed down the stairs.... Something is definitely going on and it seems that she's the cause.

Sasha has taken a long time to recover.  It has taken a lot of therapy, breaking up with her previous life, working hard to consciously overcome something that will irrevocably break most people.  Her defense mechanisms are always up, she very sensitive and she tries very hard to let her friends and Cole in, to share her feelings, her fears and to rely on someone else.

Cole is now a divorced FBI agent.  He has tried to get over his first love - Sasha - and failed miserably.  He's gorgeous, loving, very protective of Sasha and determined to not make the same mistakes again, to always be there for her.

The story of Sasha and Cole is one of second chances, regrets and continuation of the love they felt 10 years before. This, and the situation they find themselves in, makes it believable and you're rooting for them all the time.

The plot is twisty as we try to figure out who can be targeting Sasha.  We get some chapters from the 'bad guy' and we have a bit of an insight into the crazy's mind.  The pace was slow at the beginning and some of Sasha's doubts and reactions were annoying, but somewhat understandable.

The ending was perfect and I wish we had another book so we can find out if Cole and Sasha got their happily ever after and what happened to Miranda.

Overall, the audibook of Till Death was really good.  I think that narrator Sarah Naughton did a great job with the voices and the pace.  

Have you read Till Death?  Do you live murder mysteries? 

 This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

[thebookdisciple]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I grabbed Till Death, but JLA is usually a 1 click author for me! Till Death is a stand alone romantic suspense about a girl who was nearly killed by a serial killer known as the Groom. The story starts 10 years after she managed to be the only living survivor of the killer. She has come back to her hometown in West Virginia and is trying to reclaim her life and her dreams.

Sacha is a very interesting character. She was raped and beaten while held captive by the killer and she is the only survivor. As soon as she healed from her wounds, she packed up and moved away to try and escape the constant reminders. For 10 years she never came back to WV. But, her dream has always been to run her family's Inn. She is determined to get her dreams back. She also left behind Cole, her boyfriend at the time of the abduction. He is still in town as well and comes running as soon as he hears she has returned. Cole is super swoon worthy! He is probably my favorite thing about this story!

So, once Sacha moves home, strange things begin to happen to her, and other women are abducted. The new killer follows the Groom's pattern. There are several red herrings to try and keep you guessing as to who the killer is and there is no shortage of suspicious people! There is the coach at the high school, the really rude mayor, and more. Honestly though, I found the identity of the killer to be VERY obvious. I guessed it quite early on. So, while that wasn't the suspense that kept me reading, I did still wonder if the killer would get to Sacha and if she would survive. There is a little bit of totally unnecessary relationship drama thrown in at one point that just pissed me off. It was just sort of like "Oh hey, here is this big thing I have been keep from you even though I know you are not sure about our relationship as it is". Totally just added drama when they didn't need to be any.

Overall the story was engaging! I was sucked in because I wanted to see how it all played out! Even though I guessed the identity of the killer early on, there are still lots of questions that had to be answered and that suspense and tension kept me reading/listening!

The audio is great. Its narrated by a female and she doesn't 'over do' the male voices. She was easy to listen to and didn't distract me from the story! Thats the best kind of narrator!

 

• POV: 1st (Sasha)


• Tears: no


• Trope: mortal peril, second chance romance


• Triggers: Sacha's time with the Groom is mentioned in flashbacks; she is raped and beaten


• Series/Standalone: stand alone


• Cliffhanger: no


• HEA: yes with a nice epilogue

Saving Mercy by Abbie Roads, 72 hours by Bella Jewel, After Dark by Cynthia Eden...then you will probably like Till Death!

Till Death

 

 

See full review on The Book Disciple