{ arc } review || RED NIGHTS

Red Nights by Shari Ryan

Publisher: Booktrope (6/18/2015)
Genre: Romantic Suspence
Source: Author
Purchase links || amazon || add to goodreads

Rating: ★★★★1/2





I'm Felicity Stone, a twenty-five-year-old with my whole life ahead of me. Well, until recently. 

I didn't do it. Why would they think I did? Why would I want my twin brother dead? Why is everyone looking at me like I'm a criminal? 

Well, everyone except him... Hayes Peyton, the charmingly beautiful stranger I met in the park at midnight--a totally legitimate place to meet the man of my dreams. Plus, he knows I'm innocent.

Believing him is easy. So very easy. Maybe too easy?

But when you hear things like: 'All good is laced with some bad, and everything you think is the truth--is nothing more than a blatant lie,' it makes you question reality.

In Shari J. Ryan's latest Romantic Suspense, Red Nights, you wonder how dark your world can get before all you see is red.

about Shari Ryan || Bestselling author, Shari J. Ryan, hails from Central Massachusetts where she lives with her hubby and two lively little boys. Ryan has published the 3-book Schasm Series for Romantic Suspense/Thriller fans. TAG is her first book written solely for the Romantic Suspense audience, and she is hard at work on Red Nights, a standalone coming this spring. To learn more, visit her at: www.sharijryan.com   

connect with Shari || Facebook | Twitter | TSU | Pinterest | Google+  

{ review } .

I wanted to give this a 5 star... but I couldn't.... Reasoning? I still have questions, and I don't know that they'll ever be answered (and part of me wonders if I missed something, because I haven't seen other reviewers with the same questions).

But...

The first 99% of the book? Absolutely enjoyed every moment of it. I mean, how can you not when it starts the way it does?

I'm going to die a slow a miserable death. A phone call won't even save me now. With the engulfing flames closing in on me, I now realize there's not enough time.

Felicity Stone wakes up to smoke and flames. She calls for her twin brother, but remembers that he was supposed to be out with friends --

-- only to learn later that he was still in the house.

Felicity goes through all the stages of grief in this book. Watching her struggle through it all is heartbreaking, to say the least. When it gets to be too much, she ends up at a park in the dark -- and this quiet, dark place ends up being the meeting place between her and Hayes for the coming days.

Hayes becomes Felicity's safe place. When her world is crumbling, both at home and with her friendships, he's the one that keeps her grounded. What I loved most about Hayes was his ability to tell it like it was -- he didn't have a filter and wasn't afraid to say something off kilter or something that could be taken as goofy. He's also the face of reason -- he won't rush things when it comes to Felicity, always putting time frames on things where she's concerned.

Hayes has his own things he feels guilty about, things that he wishes he could have done differently. He knows firsthand the emotions that Felicity is going through and while she's struggling to stay happy all the time without feeling guilty, he puts on a pretty brave face day in and out.

This book certainly put my emotions through the ringer. I cried ugly tears a good chunk of it, not going to lie. But through it all, I loved Hayes and Felicity's relationship. Mostly, I loved that he wanted to give her good red skies -- not the ones of fire and sorrow, but ones that would give her happy memories. 

Side extra note: Felicity reads TAG. As in this TAG.