Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: When It Rains
SERIES: Accidental Roots #8
AUTHOR: Elle Keaton
PUBLISHER: Dirty Dog Press
LENGTH: 252 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019
BLURB:
Beto Hernandez’s objective: Break the human trafficking ring plaguing Skagit once and for all. He’s not in Skagit to make friends—his kicking ass first and taking names later. Maybe. He crosses paths with an intriguing and sexy man, the first man in years to spark Beto’s interest. It’s ultimate bad timing, though; no one in Skagit can be trusted.
Who is Carsten Quinn, and where does he fit in Beto’s investigation? Beto tries to stay away from Carsten but their undeniable chemistry keeps him close.
Carsten Quinn survived years in hell to return to “normal life,” and he his own mission in Skagit. The only problem is he’s hiding, not living anything like a normal life. When his closest friend is severely injured it’s up to Carsten to finish gathering evidence to put some very bad people behind bars and he knows all too well he can’t trust anyone, especially not the law.
Ironically, the law appears anyway, in the form of a sexy cop he can’t stop thinking about; when Carsten’s past comes back with a vengeance, he has no one else to turn to.
Is happiness too much to hope for? Are Beto and Carsten too different and too broken to trust anyone, much less each other?
REVIEW:
This is the eight and final book in this series, and takes us back to the human trafficking storyline from the earlier books.
FBI agent Beto Hernandez has come to Skagit, posing as an SkPD officer to not only work on the human trafficking case, but to see who on the police force is dirty. He is partnered initially with a homophobic jerk, which is an issue for Beto, being that he is gay. After tossing the asshole out of his car, Beto is eventually partnered with Soren Jorgensen, a young officer, dealing with is own sexuality issues. The two actually work out quite well as partners, as we see as the story progresses. But Beto has some drama in his past, and is working through his own issues, while trying to get to the bottom of this case. Which brings him to….
Carsten Quinn. Who is also a mess! Carsten knows first hand that there is a human trafficking ring at work in Skagit, as he was a victim himself. He was able to escape several years ago, and has been working with a friend named Troy, to try and gather inside information on the ring. Carsten and Troy are supposed to meet at a local bar, Troy doesn’t show up, but Carsten meets a sexy man and spends a bit of time flirting. The two part ways, imagine Carsten’s surprise when the guy shows up at his front door asking about Troy! Turns out he’s a cop, and Troy has been injured.
This gets the two men together, and the slow burn of romance between them begins. As does the careful dance around who knows what about the human trafficking ring. Carsten doesn’t trust Beto, Beto knows Carsten knows more than he is saying, but doesn’t know how to get him to open up. Troy isn’t talking, being that he’s unconscious for a couple of days. But eventually they put all the pieces together, both on the case and in the romance department. With the help of some new characters, and some familiar ones from past books.
I liked this book, but I have to admit to finding it a little slow at times. It took awhile to grab my interest, it might be that I have a lot going on in my life right now, so I don’t want to blame the author, but I struggled to get into this one. The build up to a romance between Beto and Carsten was a little slower than I would have preferred, but some people will find it was just right. If you like a slow-burn, it will probably be just fine. I did the like two men, both were just damaged enough to be interesting to me, but not so damaged they couldn’t work their shit out. I had a harder time getting to know Beto than Carsten, but I did come to appreciate his strength by the end of the story. I liked and sympathized with Carsten pretty quick, he was trying so hard to survive and stop this mess as best as he could. I could see that he wanted to trust Beto, and wanted to fall in love with him, it just took him a while to be able to do that. Beto was a little cold at first, but between his growing feelings for Carsen, and his bond with a found dog he named Freya, I could see him opening up. When the two do finally get their moment, it was very nice. Sexy, and sweet. From then on, the two worked together and began to trust.
The human trafficking storyline was good, I liked that the author brought it back in, and wrapped it up neatly. It provided a nice ending to the series. I liked the glimpses of Adam and Sacha, I wish we could have seen more of the other characters from previous books. I also liked the new characters, not just Beto and Carsten, but Soren and Dany as well. They looked like an interesting developing story, I’m concerned we won’t see them again now that this series is ending. Although I hear there is a spin-off series coming…
So overall I liked this one, but it wasn’t my favorite of the series. I have loved watching Elle Keaton develop her writing skills over these eight and a half books, and I look forward to seeing what she has planned for us next! If you have read the other books in this series you need to read this one to finish it up, if you have not, you really should. Some are suspenseful cop stories, some are pure romance, but all are enjoyable. Give them a try!
RATING:
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