Review: A great sequel! Really enjoy this series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2012
A Dry Creek Bed was a hit with me! Beth is suffering from a lot of past guilt. When she was eight the car carrying her and her mother and father was struck by a drunk driver. Her father and mother were killed and Beth was left hanging upside down by her seat belt for hours until help arrived. The incident never really far from her mind, as a adult she has issues getting close to people. She does okay with her friends, like Claire (from Up A Dry Creek) but her heart doesn't want to open to real love. She longs to feel it but her mind kills it every time. What if something happens? What if she lets someone down? What if what she does causes them pain? No matter how much she wants Claire's big brother Hank, she knows that he wants more then she can give him. Children are out of the question after a surgery that resulted in her not being able to conceive. The baggage and guilt she feels after being the one to make her parents run late, resulting in being on the road with the drunk driver is nearly breaking her. Her last surviving relative, her grandmother, has recently passed and now someone wants to buy her old house to use in a development project. They want it so badly they are willing to threaten and scare to get it. As the lone holdout in the neighborhood, Beth, doesn't know who to turn to. Even the local cops are dirty.Beth is extremely independent, as a result of the walls she has erected around herself. She seems to find it hard to accept any kind of help. Hank has to physically take over, and boy does she not like that, to help her. I found Hank to be very endearing and life like. There is something about the way that Avery writes that simply draws you in. The story lines are realistic and not over the top. The action is peppered in between romance that is a slow simmer and not erotically done. I like the fact that the characters don't end up in bed together after chapter 1. Most times they don't end up in bed till the last half of the book. I think it gives readers an ideal amount of time to get into the story line  and learn the quirks of the characters without feeling like there is a rush. Don't get me wrong there is heat even without all the gratuitous sex. Yes, I like gratuitous sex sometimes too LOL.Hank, being the sheriff in Dry Creek, is very protective for Beth. They've known each other since they were small but what he feels for her is most definitely not like a sister. They each have had a thing for the other that they have kept secret since they were teens. I found the irony in that amusing. I really enjoyed the connection I felt to the pair and I loved the chase that Hank had to do in order to finally win Beths heart.The one things that irks me...and it's a small irk. I generally like my romantic suspense to have lots of plot twists, turns and surprises. Avery seems to write pretty straightforward. By the middle of the book you know who the villain is. You know their story and you know what they want. I wish there was a bit more surprise with that. I want to be kept guessing until the very end when everything comes to a head. I also tend to lean towards more sadistic killers so that the hero gets to showcase the whole "damsel in distress" scenario. Even f that person in distress turns out to be a dude. Whatever. I like people in grave danger. I like twisted villains. I'm creepy like that ;)The end of A Dry Creek Bed affords the reader with a small sneak peak at the next book involving another brother and I for one will be eagerly awaiting it!I give A Dry Creek Bed by Avery Flynn 4 stars!Nikki - Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind