Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Roaring Waters
SERIES: The Warfield Hotel Mysteries Book 3
AUTHOR: C.J. Baty
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 194 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2017
BLURB:
Damien Fitzgerald has lived through hell and is determined to never let anyone get close to him again. A fervent reporter, he throws his life into his work and doesn’t care whose toes he steps on. But someone else does. He’s got a stalker, and the messages are growing increasingly threatening. He turns to his best friend, Justin Warfield and his lover, Private Investigator Marcus Drummond. Seems like a good idea until Robert Wyler becomes part of the package.
Robert Wyler, the manager of the bar at the Warfield Inn, has always been misunderstood. Sure he takes care of his body, wears his hair long and likes tatts, but that doesn’t mean he’s domineering. A cold exterior hides the more passionate man inside. Men like Damien Fitzgerald get on his nerves. Too good looking. Too arrogant. But when Justin and Marcus needed his help to guard the man from a stalker, Robert couldn’t say no.
Damien and Robert have a history. Whenever they are near each other sparks fly. Can Damien and Robert get past their prejudices to find the real men hiding underneath. Will they find love before the stalker gets to Damien and their chance at happiness is destroyed forever…
REVIEW:
I enjoyed Roaring Waters much more than I did the previous two books. It was less melodrama and more mystery. I felt like the characters were more developed and I actually connected to them and their outcome.
I was very worried about how this story would unfold. In the last book, Damien and Robert had this unexplained love/hate relationship and I was concerned the author would leave it unexplained much like she did with the other issues in the prior books. But to my surprise and enjoyment, she didn’t. She actually gave me everything I needed to understand why Damien behaved as he did. I didn’t always like Damien and how he reacted around Robert, but I understood why he did. Yes, it annoyed me, but once the nightmares started and I understood his pain, I forgave him and quickly changed my opinion to sympathy and care. I wanted Damien to heal and learn to love himself. I needed him to understand that it was not his fault and he was not broken.
Robert was not a s developed but he was still a likable character. I loved what he did for Damien and how he was such a good person. He was exactly what Damien needed and as such, he became a meaningful character. I would have liked more of his history and more of his as an independent person, but for this story, his dependence on Damien was understandable.
Finally, I really liked the mystery. I thought I knew all the answers and was pissed at Damien for taking risks because I thought it was obvious who the bad guy was. And then my spidey sense popped up around another character and I had this hinky feeling that I was wrong. And man I was right that I was wrong. The bad guy was not who I was expecting and I liked being caught off guard. However, I didn’t like that the bad guy remained a mystery for so long that it did not allow the author to really give a good explanation as to why he did what he did. It was the insanity issue again that felt like a convenient way to deal with the evil without having to spend time really developing it.
All in all, book 3 in this series was a cut above the previous two. Since this one can be read as a standalone title, I recommend skipping the drama and reading this one on its own.
RATING: 
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