Genre: Suspense, Romance
Publisher: Atria Books
Making a Murderer meets Scandal in this story of police corruption, family secrets, and illicit affairs from bestselling author K.A. Tucker, celebrated for her “propulsive plot twists and searing seduction” (USA TODAY).
Noah Marshall has had a privileged life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that’s been rattling in her closet for years: she doesn’t deserve her commendations or her medals—in fact, she deserves to be locked behind bars for what she did to a fellow officer to save her own reputation. When she finally succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family’s life, she leaves Noah alone to carry the burden of this shocking secret, which she makes him vow never to share.
Gracie Reynolds wasn’t born into trailer park life, but after ten years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it’s all she knows anymore. At least here people don’t care that she is a byproduct of a white mother and a black father. And they certainly don’t care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop. Here, she and her mother can almost forget the shame he brought upon them…until a man who clearly doesn’t belong shows up on her doorstep one night, asking questions.
Together, Noah and Gracie set out to uncover the truth about the Austin police department’s dark and messy past—but the scandal they uncover is bigger than they bargained for, and goes far higher up than they ever imagined.
K.A. Tucker has proven herself to be a versatile author with Keep Her Safe. Tucker usually writes romance and has cemented herself a go to author for many. Not all authors can be versatile in their writing and there’s nothing wrong with that because we all play to our strengths. Luckily, for Tucker, suspense has been added to her repertoire.
Keep Her Safe balances a very difficult line between suspense and romance. Tucker balances this line expertly since Keep Her Safe can be recommended to fan of suspense and romance alike.
The mystery slowly unravels throughout the novel with twists and turns you won’t see coming. You think you have an idea about what happened, then Tucker pulls the rug from underneath you by adding an unexpected layer to the mystery. This extra layer was methodically sowed within the text, but masked behind the story. Keep Her Safe will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Keep Her Safe is written from multiple perspectives. The two main perspectives are the main characters, Noah and Grace, and the occasional chapter from their parents’ perspectives in the past. The intersecting chapters from multiple perspectives and timelines are easy to follow despite the change in dates. Noah and Grace are very different characters, so their differing views on the unfolding mystery were interesting to read, especially concerning the big reveal.
The only issue, for lack of a better word, I had with Keep Her Safe was the romance between the main characters. I wish there was a little more of it sprinkled throughout since I’m a fan of Tucker’s romance writing style. I just wanted more of it!
Overall, Keep Her Safe is a well-written romantic suspense novel that can be recommended for fans of each genre. If you’re looking for and intricate mystery with a romantic spin that isn’t shoehorned in, look no futher.
I initially rated Keep Her Safe four stars, but changed it to five after writing my review. I had too many great things to gush about.
**I received an ARC via Netgalley from the publisher for an honest review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA TODAY, The Globe and Mail, Suspense Magazine, and Publishers Weekly. She currently resides in a quaint town outside Toronto with her husband and two beautiful girls.
FIND K.A. TUCKER ONLINE:
http://www.katuckerbooks.com/
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Atria Books Paperback | On-sale: January 23, 2018 | 448 pages | ISBN: 9781501133404, $16.00
eBook: 9781501133428, $7.99
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Book reviews and more! 
Glad to see how great this novel was for you! I sort of side-stepped this one because of the romance in fear that there would be too much of it at play, but I’m glad to hear that it was actually pretty well done (if not lacking a little throughout the novel).
Definitely! It’s so hard to strike a balance between mystery and romance because you’ll most likely end up alienating some readers.