Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Book Review: Heart & Soul by Lee Strauss


Synopsis

Every love story needs a song.

Gabriele Baumann-Smith is deliriously in love with her young husband Lennon.

Except, it turns out that Lennon Smith isn't his real name.  In fact, he's full of secrets: a cottage on the southern British coast, an old girlfriend and...an identical twin brother.

Callum Jones--not his real name--can't believe his brother's widow came to England.  He'd warned Mick--Lennon--that an inheritance could put the girl's life in danger, and he was right.

"Mrs. Smith" is the last thing Callum needs to worry about right now.  She's beautiful, sure, takes his breath away at times.  But when she looks at him, who does she see?

Gabriele's heart is battered and bruised.  Can one brother fix what the other left behind?  And will they live long enough to find out?

The Minstrel Series, #3
Contemporary Romance
Release: June 2014


My Review

Quick confession...I haven't read the other books in this series yet.  That said, even though it's recommended to read the series in order for better enjoyment, this can definitely be read as a stand-alone.  

While the first quarter or so of this story starts a little slow for me, things do pick up and in the last third, you'll be glued to the pages with all of the suspense and action happening.  Part of the slow start I think is due to the unfolding of the background of the story as the author switches back and forth between past and present, telling us of the time before and after Lennon dies.  But once the majority of that has been told, the story goes quicker and you really get drawn in.

Great characters-Gabriele is a strong female lead and doesn't let Callum push her around.  Callum is a strong character as well, an alpha male with protective instincts.  Even though they clash at first, as the story progresses their characters start to mold themselves together to the point that you don't want to see them apart.

There's plenty of secrets to create suspense, and a nice dose of action once those secrets come to light.  The story is not really heavy on the romance side, and is actually pretty clean, but I think the intensity between Gabriele and Callum still shows.  It was a great read for me, keeping me captivated most of the way through, and my rating is 4.5 stars.  I'd definitely recommend this to all contemporary romance and romantic suspense fans.

About the Author

Lee Strauss is the Amazon best-selling author of A Nursery Rhyme Suspense Serial Series (Mystery Sci-fi Romantic Suspense), The Perception Series (Young Adult Dystopian), The Minstrel Series (Contemporary Romance), and young adult historical fiction.  She also writes younger YA fantasy as Elle Strauss

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