Review: Intense romantic suspense!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
Into the Shadows is the third book in Carolyn Crane’s Associates series and it’s just as great as the first two, maybe even better. I say that because I’ve been looking forward to Thorne’s book and it didn’t disappoint. This series is consistently a darker, edgier type of romantic suspense and I’m already looking forward to the next installment. (Note: you can read the books out of order, there's not an overarching plot.)Into the Shadows is about two broken people who are fighters and survivors. Thorne is part of the Associates and so deep undercover that until recently, others in the group didn’t even know he was an Associate. Most people think he’s one of the leaders in a criminal group called Hangman. Nadia’s deceased father was a gangster that Thorne used to work for (undercover) and she and Thorne had an intense, sexual relationship. No one in her life ever saw her, the real her, except Thorne. And it’s the same for him; Nadia saw through all his crap and they formed a relationship that worked. When he overhears something that’s a lie (Nadia only said because she couldn’t bear to lose him) he thinks that he means nothing to her so when her father died years before, and Thorne got what he needed for his undercover job, he just cut her out of his life because he assumed he meant nothing to her.The story starts two years after their intense time together with Nadia’s gangster father dead and her a new mother. And her priorities have changed in a big way; she’s no longer the ‘Party Princess’. Not only that but she found out something she was never supposed to and it changed her reality. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but what she’s doing with her life is incredibly noble and her actions inadvertently make her life intersect with her ex, Thorne. When Thorne storms back into her life years later the chemistry between them is so potent it jumped off the pages. What he’s working toward is also noble and I loved that two broken people got a second chance.There’s so much action and mystery in this book and it’s skillfully woven with intense sexual tension. I think my favorite thing about Crane’s characters is that they’re all incredibly flawed yet likeable. It makes getting to the ending that much better. Into the Shadows is an edgy, gritty romantic suspense with two main characters who will break your heart and have you laughing moments later. I highly recommend this romantic suspense to fans of the genre!