Atonement (Beartooth, Montana, #4)

by B J Daniels

[kimbacaffeinate]

3.5 Right away I liked the characters we meet in Beartooth, Montana. Dillon is a noble, stand-up guy who blames himself for not being able to keep his brother straight. Tessa knew Ethan was trouble, but fell for his charismatic ways and the glimpse of the man inside him. The tale is told from several povs as we learn about Ethan and the crazy trouble he ran into. We also learn of further developments and troubles of local store owner Nette and the troubled Sheriff Frank. The characters each had a unique voice from the villains to the secondary characters adding to the suspense. The chemistry between Tess and Dillon was a slow burning and forbidden as they tried to find Ethan.

Atonement is pure suspense and a real whodunit with a clean, satisfying side of romance. Ethan’s troubles quickly become Dillon and Tessa’s as they uncover clues and stir up a hornet’s nest. We begin to see the players emerge and boy howdy are we all in trouble. The mystery thread regarding Frank and Nette was secondary but had me guessing and flipping the pages. Daniels balanced things wonderfully as she drove us towards the climatic endings. Forbidden romance is one of my favorite tropes and the slight triangle made me feel torn, but there was little to no angst and this thread remained on the side. When things did begin to develop they felt genuine and natural. Sometimes I felt a little disconnected, I think in part from jumping in at book four and then there was the multiple threads that left little page time with each.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review that originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer