Deadly Shadows

Kinncaid Brothers Series # 1

By: Jaycee Clark

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

A small, friendly Colorado town, nestled in the breathtaking Rockies, cloaks a malevolence, an evil that stalks women. Jesslyn Black, a writer, is content living her now-single, childless life. If she keeps to herself, she can't get hurt. Haunted by the past, Jesslyn never again wants to experience the soul-shredding pain of losing loved ones.

Aiden Kinncaid is running from his own secret loss. As the CEO of Kinncaid Enterprises, he travels to this remote Colorado resort town to oversee the opening of the new Highland Hotel. Though he's not interested in any kind of relationship, he finds himself drawn to this temperamental, brown-eyed beauty. And her rough-edged attitude is a challenge to him.

But whether or not either sought a relationship, they've found one. Aiden wants to protect Jesslyn even if she claims she can take care of herself, and she finds she can't stop thinking about Aiden, even when he annoys her. Will they get their second chance at love and life before the killer eliminates one problem he doesn't need?

©2012 Jaycee Clark (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Five Hearts! I really feel this book deserves the rating I gave it. If there were ten hearts I would have given it that. Ms. Clark has given this reviewer a novel that has kept me engrossed until the end, and for that I thank her." ( The Romance Studio)

Deadly Shadows

This one was really good! Aiden Kinncaid comes to Colorado to open a hotel and rents a home from Jessalyn Black and on his first night in town Jess comes upon a murder scene and then her new housemate. This is the beginning of a series of murders and several attempts on Jess's life. So much in this book and I had this one on audio and listened to it in one sitting because I could not put it down!

Up all night

I had the pleasure of previously reading the Kinncaid Brothers Series on Kindle. It was a welcome surprise when I saw this audible Book 1, Deadly Shadows available. It was a wonderful listening experience with Johanna Parker narrating. Lately I have been disappointed with the narration on some purchases, not so with this narrator. I hope to see books 2-5 available soon with the same narration, you won't be disappointed in this romantic suspense.

A GOOD START TO THE KINNCAID BROTHERS SAGA

An enjoyable contemporary, but slightly sinister, romance that's got chills, thrills, suspense and twists, as an evil psychotic murderer first kills Jesslyn's friend then, when she stumbles on the bloody scene, she unwittingly becomes his next target with harrowing consequences.

Jesslyn's mental and emotional state is already fraught as she has to come to terms with yet another death in her life but when she sets eyes on her temporary house guest Aiden (a rich, handsome hotel owner) she's instantly attracted but she doesn't think she can stand more heartache. However, as the verbal sparring heats up between the two, emotional and sexual sparks fly (as they do) and it's not long before they take things to the next level.... passion filled nights. But all the time the crazy villain is watching, waiting and has plans of his own for her.

An entertaining listen that's about a tender touching romance built on some heartbreaking histories between the two and, unfortunately, their love gets tested in a dramatic way. There's a touch of the paranormal manifested in her dreams, some stupid stupid "don't do it" moments, humor, sex, mystery, great family members that show love, loyalty and laughter, other interesting likeable secondary characters but above all it's an emotional roller coaster listen that had me guessing right til the end.

Worth the credit? It's not too bloody, too frightening or too hot but what it is is a well written romantic mystery thriller that will hold your attention and keep you enthralled until you suddenly realise, at the end of the day, that your chores are all done - so that's got to be a YES.

The Series Improves

I started the series with Ian's story and had to back track. I didn't like any of the books as well as Ian's book. However, this is worth a credit. One of the cons of listening to the book is that I noticed the annoying trend of phrases being used over and over. "He shook his head" must have been used 200 times!

A- overall rating...

My Review:
Overall....4.25
Performance...4.25
Story...4.00

This is my first Jaycee Clark read although I have a friend who urged me to read these books ages ago because she knew I would enjoy them. (You were right, Amy!)

From the moment this book began, the energy and expectation that I love with romantic suspense began. Right away the energy ramps up when Jesslyn comes upon the murder of one of her best friends in the middle of the night. From that moment on, her life is at risk because the murderer knows that she might have seen something. And so the story begins.

There were so many little things I loved about this book. Jesslyn is a writer. As one myself, I loved how she could use her writing as a stress reliever. Aiden is a renter in her house and although their first encounters are fairly acrimonious, he remains very protective of her. I loved that. What I didn't absolutely love and my one real complaint about the book was how their relationship did a 180 so suddenly. One minute they are jibing at each other and the next they realize that they are in love. What? I can usually deal with insta-love, but this one went a little too fast in a totally different direction too quickly for me. But other than that it was a great book and an incredible audio listen.

The narrator was great and the addition of Aiden's parents at the end as well as his brother convinced me that I want to listen to the entire series on audio and went and bought them all on audible. BTW, the narrator does some spectacular voices and accents. I really, really loved her narration on this one and the good news is that she narrates the entire series. Yippee!

This is definitely great romantic suspense, too. I had my suspects narrowed down to three at about 2/3 of the way through and then down to two at the end. I was completely and totally wrong about the bad guy. I love it when a story can twist me around that way and since I've started writing rom suspense, I've gotten pretty good at figuring out the bad guy so bravo, Jaycee, on the writing on this one!

It was good and I am already half-way through the audio on book 2 and it's shaping up to be even better. I think I have a new author to fan-girl on....

A winner and a keeper

I rated this a 5 because it is well worth getting, I got all the series, and just finished the last and I must say I was never dissapointed with any of them, they keep your interest and you never know what's going to happen, but you won't be bored...

Couldn't stop listening!

I couldn't stop listening to this book and got nothing done for 2 days. The story kept me in suspense throughout. even though Jesse was filled with pain from the past and doubts in the present she still communicated what she was feeling. The narrator did an excellent job reading all the emotions and voices. after I get some work done I'm going to download another book by this author.

Enjoyable

I loved the hero in this story, however the heroine was very hard to warm up to. She was one of those ditzy women who kept doing very dumb things. I also did not care for all of the angst we were put through regarding her widowhood. I know losing a husband and child was very traumatic for her but it had been three years. I don't know if she had ever had grief counseling or not but it would not have hurt.
The plot was good, although I figured it out who the killer was.
This is the start of a series, and the family members sound interesting especially Ian, which was a lose end that wasn't taken care of.

Of course Johanna Parker did a great job as always.

Suspense and Romance!

I really enjoyed Deadly Beginnings, so I was excited to read this one. I still love the suspense and the mystery involved in the story. This one has a serial killer on the loose that ends up coming after Jesslyn, so there’s some danger to the story. Very entertaining.

I listened to the audio and the narrator did a good job. Quality performance and her voice fit the characters.

The romance is super sweet and has some good sexy times. I love how Aiden is there for Jesslyn even when she doesn’t exactly make it easy.

I liked some of Jesslyn’s sass, but it did start to annoy me. It felt like she was trying too hard all the time to be tough; which makes some sense since she’s dealing with grief. Her attitude was just too much sometimes and she could’ve benefited from some therapy. Very melodramatic. I really liked Aiden; he puts up with a lot, but didn’t like his backstory. Apparently, he was engaged to some vapid, self-centered supermodel type woman, so that made me question his intelligence for wanting to marry someone like that.

I almost want to give this 3 stars because of how stupid Jesslyn acts in a couple of moments. Who in the heck leaves their keys in the ignition when you go walking at a lake during a storm when you know a murdering is on the loose and targeting you!? That action just screams moron to me, and I just kept thinking about how much it annoyed me till the end of the story. Plus, her actions in the epilogue. It was very unnecessary and tainted the connection for me.

I went with 4 though because I was entertained for the whole story and I would like to check out the next books in this series.

Truly enjoyable experience.

Usually I just hand out the Stars and don't leave a comment, but this book was so expertly read, I had to say a few rewarding words. This performance was superb. This is a truly exciting and fun book, and I will seek out all books by this author.