Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read: ✱✱Audio Book Review✱✱ Two Reasons to Run by Colleen Coble

Sunday, March 14, 2021

✱✱Audio Book Review✱✱ Two Reasons to Run by Colleen Coble

Two Reasons to Run

The Pelican Harbor Series, Book 2

By: Colleen Coble

Narrated by: Devon O'Day

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Gripping romantic suspense from USA Today best-selling author Colleen Coble.

A lie changed her world.

Police Chief Jane Hardy is still reeling from the scandal that rocked her small-town department just as she took over for her retired father - the man who wrecked her life with one little lie. Now she’s finally been reunited with her presumed-dead 15-year-old son, Will, and his father, documentarian Reid Bechtol. A crisis looms.

When a murder aboard the oil platform Zeus exposes an environmental terrorist’s plot to flood Mobile Bay with crude oil, Jane and Reid must put their feelings for each other behind them and work together to prevent the rig from being sabotaged. A killer targets her son. Then the terrorist puts her son Will’s life on the line. Protecting him could be the common ground they need...but then ghosts from the past threaten to ruin Jane and Reid for good. She’s got plenty of reasons to run. But what if she stays?

“Colleen Coble’s latest has it all: characters to root for, a sinister villain, and a story that just won’t stop.” (Siri Mitchell, author of State of Lies)

Full-length romantic suspense

Perfect for fans of Allison Brennan, Terri Blackstock, and Dani Pettrey

Part of the Pelican Harbor series:

Book one: One Little Lie
Book two: Two Reasons to Run
Book three: Three Missing Days (available April 2021)

Momma Says: 2 stars⭐⭐

This mystery/thriller had things I liked and things I didn't. First, I did not know it was the second in a series until after I started listening and some things weren't making sense. We are given some of the backstory in the blurb, but it's minimal and wow, there's a lot of backstory for these characters. Apparently, there was a cult, an underage marriage, some kind of fire, fleeing, and lies. Now, some of that was easy enough to figure out as this one progressed and information was doled out, but it started to feel like the more information I got about the past, the deeper into the background this case seemed to get - and that was what drew me to the book in the first place. Then, there was the whole thing between Jane and Reid and Jane's dad. Some things should never be kept secret, and some secrets can break a relationship. All the way through this book, I kept thinking that I couldn't imagine how Jane could move forward with either Reid or her father, and as a mother, I'm pretty sure I'd be homicidal.

Jane has a lot of back and forth on trust, or the inability to trust, which is understandable. Then there's Reid, and I will say that I liked his faith and determination, but given those earlier mentioned secrets, I never really warmed up to the character. I also like the personal touches and getting to know the detective in a case as well as main characters in a series, but it reached a point where the case Jane is working felt like it was almost completely buried in everything else - right up until it was needed to bring this book to a climax and conclusion.

On a positive note, I really liked Devon O'Day's performance on the audiobook. She did an excellent job conveying the various emotions as well as the tension in different situations. I would say those who read and enjoyed the first book in this series will like this one much better than I did. I just prefer a little more focus on the case at hand than what I found here.

✽✽Review copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas Nelson