MinnChica from The Book Pushers

Review originally posted here: http://thebookpushers.com/2011/06/07/review-you-belong-to-me-by-karen-rose/

Publisher: Penguin
Publish Date: June 7th
How I got this book: NetGalley

This was my first read from Rose, and I have to say… WOWSA!

Lucy works for the medical examiners office, dealing with death day in and day out. But when a stream of grizzly murders all center around her, she finds herself edging closer and closer to death than ever before. Thankfully she has sexy homicide detective JD on the case.

JD and Lucy work around the clock trying to find out who is behind the murders, what the victims have in common, and why everything keeps leading back to Lucy. They are barely able to put together all the clues before the killer comes for her, and she manages to escape his clutches, by the skin of her teeth.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect picking this book up. Mystery’s are not my usual genre, but with my recent love of all things romantic suspense, I went out on a limb to try this one out, and I’m really glad I did. Although the murderer was easy to pinpoint about a quarter of the way through the story, I sort of enjoy knowing things that the characters don’t. Plus, when an author dangles tidbits of information like that, I always find myself surprised by additional aspects of the story.

I thought the characters were really well done and developed thoroughly. Although Lucy kept her secrets close to heart, I loved watching her story unravel, getting newer and newer tidbits as the story went along. I admired her, felt sorry for her, and really enjoyed reading how strong and yet vulnerable she was. JD was very similar in that he had a lot of insecurities, but when push came to shove he was always on, always giving one hundred percent to the case and the people he loved. The strength of the two leading characters was one of my favorite aspects of the book.

While I am normally one of those people who can always figure out what is going on, I was a little confused for the first few chapters as to why there were two totally separate story lines. It took me awhile to catch onto the fact that one followed the investigation into the killer from a PIs perspective, and the other followed Lucy and JD’s mission. Once my brain finally got on board with what was happening though, I really enjoyed watching the two plots lines weave and merge together at times, only to break off and head in separate directions at other times.

Some of the torture scenes were a little brutal to read, but at the same time I didn’t feel as if it was over done. The story had a good blend of suspense, mystery, horror and romance that it left me feeling satisfied on all fronts. I have to admit though, I was slightly annoyed that the meat of the story takes place in a 48 hour time frame. I mean, my brain hurt after getting through the first 24 hours. I have no idea how the characters were able to survive through that. But despite that, I really felt like it all flowed together quite nicely.

I have no idea if Rose has plans to write any books about any of the secondary characters in the book, especially Lucy’s two best friends Gwyn and Thorne and JD’s partner Stevie, but I would really enjoy reading more about these folks. Especially after what each of them had to endure.

All in all I was very happy with my first Rose read. I enjoyed her blend of mystery and suspense and was even taken by surprise with the twist of the killers identity at the very end. While it didn’t have as much romance as some of my other favorite’s, it was still a very enjoyable read.

I give You Belong to Me a B