Review: A mix of heart-warming romance and terrifying suspense!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 31, 2013
Laying Low in Paradise was a mix of heart-warming romance and terrifying suspense.Laura Keane and her son Sam are vacationing at Bois Blanc Island, as they do every summer. An accident leads Laura right into her neighbor Cameron's arms. Once she lands there, neither of them look back. They both know they have found something special. At the same time, Cameron is at a loss with how to reach his son Brendan, who lost a leg in a car accident. To say Brendan isn't doing well would be a major understatement. To top this, Cameron has a BIG secret. This secret is so big that it involves everyone on the island with the exception of Laura and her son.The story opens with a prologue that will keep you baffled for a couple chapters. Then you get so wrapped up in what's going on that you forget about it by the time it would actually aid in putting some of the puzzle pieces together to solve the mystery. I recommend rereading the prologue at the end.After the prologue, the story jumps right on in with Laura and her twelve year old son, Sam. Laura and Sam have a great relationship, and I am especially fond of Sam. He reminds me so much of my oldest son. They are both the same age and have the whole mother-hen thing down to an art. Kristy James really nailed his character! You really feel the love and closeness shared between Laura and Sam.Insert Cameron here. I loved Cameron's personality as it related to Laura. I was especially pleased that he was adament about sharing his secret with her. He had no desire to build a relationship on secrets and lies. The only thing I didn't like concerning Cameron was the lack of bond shown between him and his son. You got the sense he deeply loved his son, but it wasn't shown as it had been between Laura and Sam. I think more bonding was shown between Laura and Brendan than between Cameron and Brendan. It almost appeared as if Brendan was second to Laura sometimes. Overall, the characters were well-developed and relatable. You care about them, laugh with them, and worry with them. There was some rarely used strong language and a few steamy scenes, but no sex for those of you that like a clean romance.The plot was very intriguing and kept you on your toes trying to figure it out. It was definitely a shocker for me when Cameron's secret came out! It wasn't anything I had thought of, and it really wrapped up the fairytale romance nicely. The only thing I didn't like was that it seemed to wrap up a little too quickly for me. I was almost finished, and I was thinking I was about to have a cliffhanger on my hands. But, no, it just ended rather abruptly.Overall this was a very enjoyable read. There were times I laughed out loud and others I literally had goose bumps. It was a nice, clean fairytale mixed with mystery and suspense. I give it a strong 4 stars!! I will definitely be reading more from Kristy James!! I recommend this book to all of you who like a good romance!!*I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.*