Knight’s Storm (Sanctuary Falls #1)

Katie Reus

Blurb:

Someone is trying to frame her for murder.

When Berkley Knight wakes up in a dead man’s house with no memory of how she got there, she runs. Given her checkered past, she doesn’t trust the cops, so she calls her brother for help. They retrace her steps, trying to figure out who could have dumped her there and why. But when they start digging, they wind up with even more questions—and in more danger.

He’ll do whatever it takes to clear her name.

Unfortunately, the same thing happens again, only this time Berkley wakes up in her murdered ex-husband’s house. Now she’s the prime suspect and soon realizes that whoever is terrorizing her, is attempting to systematically destroy her life. The one thing she never imagined was turning to her enemy for help, but Nick Storm is exactly who she needs to fight the maniac who’s terrorizing her. It turns out the danger is much closer than either of them realize. And the only way they will both survive is to trust each other.

Themes: Contemporary, Suspense

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

I always love starting a new series, especially when it comes from one of my favorite authors, and this new one set in Sanctuary Falls, by Katie Reus, is looking to be one of my favorites. Combining interesting family dynamics, suspense, murder and mayhem, along with passion and love, Katie takes us on a journey through the mind of a killer as they are setting up our heroine to take the fall for their crimes but not succeeding thankfully. With the help of her friends, family, and a very unlikely hero, Berkley Knight manages to stay one step ahead of the killer until the very end when her world is rocked by the truth and she is forced to fight for her life and the lives of those she loves. Filled with action, suspense, laughter, and love, Knight’s Storm is one of those stories that sticks with you long after reading it and leads you to want to keep coming back into the world of these characters again and again. I’m dying for what comes next in this small town, knowing that Micah and Clover’s story will be just as intriguing, and then this series will only continue to get better. Katie has another hit on her hands, guaranteed!

Berkley Knight, reformed troublemaker, has no idea why someone is out to get her, but when she wakes up in a stranger’s home, a dead man at that, she knows nothing good can come of being found there—and when it happens a second time, and the dead man is her degenerate ex-husband things only get more dangerous. Nick Storm once thought that Berkley was just the type of woman he wanted to get to know but then he was misled into believing that she was more of a woman to run from. But now he is getting to know her and learns that she is sweet and spicy in equal measures and when she is in need of assistance he can’t resist being the hero to stand beside her. Willing to do just about anything to protect her, Nick pushes into her life and they are soon spending every moment together, and the more time they spend together the more they come to like one another. Soon the heat that was always riding under their antagonism veers into another kind of passion and Nick and Berkley come to find that they mean much more to one another than they ever planned. Now they have to trust one another explicitly because her enemy has decided to stop hiding in the shadows, and without that trust one or the other of them just might not survive the coming battle.

I loved getting to meet a whole new roster of characters, but my favorite had to be the Knight siblings of course—who wouldn’t love five crazy siblings all with their own weird personalities. Berkley is one of those women that knows she screwed up in her youth, making far too many dumb decisions, but she has worked hard to pull herself out of the mire and is proud of that fact. Now she works hard, plays very little, and doesn’t let people treat her as less than, but when she needs help in her current predicament she fights for herself just as much as allowing others to fight for her. She was just the right amount of sarcasm, intelligence, passion, and determination to soldier through, and as she developed feelings for Nick, she also showed him the softness and vulnerability she’d so often hid from others. Nick was a bit of a jerk in the beginning, listening to the wrong person about Berkley, instead of forming his own opinion, but when he is called out for his behavior, he truly gives her a chance and goes to bat for her repeatedly. He is strong, sweet, and obviously protective of those he feels strongly for, so watching him fall in love with Berkley was remarkable because he was obviously unprepared for the depth of his emotions. It was also fabulous to watch him dealing with the others in her life trying to protect her, because he wasn’t willing to step aside and let others step in between them.

Aptly named Knight’s Storm is the kind of story where two people that had no idea they were perfectly made for one another finally get the chance to find out that passion, danger and fear can all lead them to their love story even in the least likely of places. Berkley and Nick’s chance at love could easily have been stolen from them by a vengeful comment from one scumbag, but circumstances lead them right where they were always meant to be. The danger Berkley finds herself suddenly wrapped up in puts her and all her family and friends right in the crosshairs of a deadly game that she never knew she was part of. When she tries to protect those she loves, she ends up putting herself into more danger, but in the end the love and trust that she has found in the arms of the least likely person allows them both to survive the sociopath stalking them. Nick had no idea that when he finally found a way to apologize to Berkley for his idiot assumptions it would be in the form of protection from a killer, but he’s more than willing to do whatever it takes. And spending time with her, proving to her that they can have a future and are good together, is certainly no hardship for him either. The passion between these two was accompanied by self-deprecating laughter, sweet tenderness, and of course the acerbic family connection that only a member of a big family can appreciate. I am very much looking forward to the next story (Knight’s Obsession) where we will see another Knight sibling get his chance to convince a stubborn woman they are meant to be together. Ms. Reus definitely has another kicked off another great series that I can see keeping our attention for many years to come.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.