Finding Peace gives us a story that rings so true with the drama in the world today. Sexual harassment and the 'boys will be boys' mentality take center stage as Ginny deals with a peeping tom in her small town and remembers her own demoralizing encounter with sexual harassment and assault. The reactions of various people in the town are exactly what you hear in stories like this. They include various forms of "Come on, they are just boys" and even a few of the more well meaning members of the town don't quite see the 'big deal'. As a cop, Ginny has a duty to uphold the laws and as a woman who has been the victim of harassment before, she finds herself in the overwhelming task of educating a group of people. Some of those people welcome learning more about this pervasive issue; some are not open minded.
Brogan is a veteran as well and he carries his own set of baggage. Ginny and Brogan really like each other, but Brogan has some deep seeded self esteem issues and struggles with PTSD. He, however, has a very supportive family and the love of the people in his small hometown. Ginny's family excommunicated her and she is rebuilding her life in Baytown. Sometimes the dialogue was a little cheesy and this was the only downside to the book in my opinion. The mystery of the voyeur is really not the focus of the story so I don't really consider this a 'romantic suspense'. However, the mystery builds with the story and it was interesting. For a small town, there were no lack of chauvinistic pig suspects. Ick.
Characters with struggles that tug at your emotions, engaging supporting characters, and a mystery to keep you turning pages all combine in Finding Peace!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: no
- Trope: ex-military, PTSD, police, small town
- Triggers: As mentioned above, there are several instances described of sexual harassment and assault that might be triggers for some women
- Series/Standalone: stand alone within an interconnected series
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes with epilogue
books by Susan Stoker, Anne Conley, Kaylea Cross...then you will probably like Finding Peace!
See full review on The Book Disciple