Reviewed by Kimberley

TITLE: Finding Matt

AUTHOR: J.D. Ruskin

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 223 pages

BLURB:

When six-year-old Matt Wilson and his Shih Tzu, Pixie, step out of the Stanton Community Hospital and disappear, his desperate parents convince Jaron Greenberg, a local pet psychic, to aid the police in the search. Jaron specializes in finding lost kitties and fixing problem pooches. He isn’t prepared for a case with so much at stake. And as soon as he starts, the abilities he’s had since childhood begin changing and growing in unexpected ways.

Paulo Silva is a veteran detective new to the small town of Stanton. As the low man on the totem pole at Stanton PD, he isn’t happy when the chief assigns him to babysit the pet psychic instead of actively working the missing child case. As Jaron uncovers clues, Paulo starts to wonder if he might be the real thing. Or maybe it’s just his testosterone reacting to what he’s sure is mutual attraction.

REVIEW:

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. A cop falls for the psychic while working a case together. That’s a plot that has been done many times before yet Ruskin found a way to make it fresh and new.

This book was suspenseful with great characters and a believable plot line. This was more of a mystery than a romance but that was more than okay. There was a wonderful balance of mystery, suspense, with a touch of the paranormal thrown in for good measure. I liked how the author told the story from more than one MC’s POV, starting with the abductor first. By doing this, you truly saw the depth of Marnie’s mental illness so it was hard to see her as an evil person. The author also did a wonderful job of revealing the backgrounds of the MCs of the story which formed these  perfectly three dimensional characters. I don’t know who I loved the most: the human or the four legged characters. I adored Bear and was so heartbroken for poor Pixie. Of course, the cats, not to be outdone, were impressive as well.

The heat rating on this is not very high but again, this works well for this book. This allowed Jaron and Paulo to get to know each other and kept their focus on finding Matt.  Solving the mystery of the who, how and why behind Matt’s kidnapping took a front seat, I think to any developing  relationship between Paulo and Jaron. I think that if the author had allowed these men to engage in a sexual relationship while that child was still missing would have been distracting and, in a way, inappropriate considering all of their time and headspace needed to be on finding Matt. The heat came later when everyone and everything was wrapped up, which the author did quite well. The ending was perfect.

This is a new to me author and I must say that I will definitely make it a point to seek out more of their work. If you’re looking for an engrossing read with touches of romance mixed in with paranormal elements, you should give this book a try. You won’t be disappointed.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

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