Reviewed by Kimberley

TITLE: Starting Something

SERIES: Cade Creek #5

AUTHOR: Stormy Glenn

PUBLISHER: Siren Bookstrand

LENGTH: 130 pages

BLURB:

Hank Vaught had a past, one that made him wary of relationships. When the man he’s interested in betrays his trust, Hank refuses to have anything to do with him. But fate has a way of making a man regret decisions made in haste. When Sammy’s life is threatened, Hank is the first to run to his rescue. Getting Sammy to agree to speak to him again might be harder than finding the serial arsonist that is plaguing Cade Creek. It might be damn near impossible.

Sammy Helmond wanted Hank with a need that clouded every decision he made. Not knowing what he did to get Hank to kick him to the curb, Sammy tries to move on with his life. With nothing to lose, he gives into family pressure and moves away from Cade Creek. But even that solace is denied him when he finds himself engaged to be married to a woman who needs rescuing more than he does.

Desire brought Hank and Sammy together. Betrayal kept them apart. Can they learn to trust each other or will their chance at love be over before it can even really start?

REVIEW:

Sammy is a nurse in the town’s hospital that has a thing for Hank, a fireman. Hank has baggage he’s carrying over from a previous failed relationship, which of course, comes into play here.

I don’t know what it was but for some reason I didn’t like these two individuals. They just weren’t as likable to me as the others in the previous books. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly as to why that is, though.

Sammy just seems too goody two shoes for me. I also find it tiresome when a person drags bad baggage from a previous relationship into new ones. It affects virtually every decision they make and true to form, this is exactly what Hank did in regards to this budding relationship with Sammy.

That’s the part I couldn’t wrap my head around. This guy shows up in Sammy’s life and instead of going to Sammy and asking for an explanation, he makes an assumption and splits without so much as a ‘screw you’ to Sammy. He just 86 the guy completely without any type of explanation.

Of course, Sammy’s brother Noah shows up and pretty much guilts him into retiring to Boston to fulfill some family obligation. Instead of telling his brother to get lost, he agrees because he’s just so distraught at the way Hank has dumped him.

This is where the story takes a turn sideways for me. Sammy somehow gets ropes into a bizarre arranged marriage to his brother’s pregnant one night stand and the somewhat convoluted family plot that involves the child’s mother (Phoebe), her sister (Noah’s wife) Noah and Sammy.

I immediately dislike Phoebe. She’s written as the innocent victim in this grand scheme their families have going but that’s not exactly the case. I buy that Sammy is one of the victims of their families schemes but he’s not the only one. She’s caught up in it somehow but she knew more than what she let on about what was going on.

Of course Sammy decides to run to Cade Creek with a pregnant Phoebe in tow and of course, the men of Cade Creek decide pull together to come to their aid. And this is where I found a problem. Everyone was rallying around Phoebe and trying to come up with a plan to save her like she was this helpless victim. You would think that the father of her child – who happens to be Sammy’s brother – took advantage of her, which is not the case.

In their quest to play hero to this so-called damsel they (Sammy, Hank and the Blaecleah clan) failed to remember that she made her own bed when she chose to sleep with her sister’s husband. I felt that there was more to the story, something that she (Phoebe) intentionally left out. There’s something in that water ain’t clean and I feel that she’s eating up Sammy, Hank and the Blaecleah clan’s need to protect her for I’m not sure what. I am not buying her innocent victim act.

Sammy and Hank finally get their HEA after all the drama and such but it’s something more to this story and I feel like maybe Sammy’s brother isn’t as evil and manipulative as everyone was lead by Sammy, by way of Phoebe, to believe.

That storyline to me seemed to overshadow the threat to Sammy’s life. His life is threatened and although the person behind the threat was a surprise the motive behind the reason was ridiculous.

This book was good but I must say that Sammy and Hank are my least favorite characters in the series.

The books in this series may have mild violence and may deal with issues such as domestic/family violence, physical and or mental abuse so if those are your triggers, I would recommend you skip those parts.

This book is part of a series and as such should be read in sequential order. It is recommended that your read the Blaecleah Brothers Cowboy series as their characters cross over into this series.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

 Siren Bookstrand