Book Review/Giveaway!! Hero's Return, by B.J. Daniels

 

Hero's Return

(The Montana Cahills, Book 5)

B.J. Daniels

Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

HQN

March 27, 2018

Contemporary Fiction, Romance,

Mystery, Suspense

The prodigal Cahill is back—and ready to confess

Tucker Cahill disappeared from Gilt Edge, Montana, hoping to escape a secret that has haunted him for nineteen years. Then, when a young woman’s remains are found in the creek near his family’s ranch, he has no choice but to face his demons. The truth that sent him running years ago could take away his freedom now.

Kate Rothschild came to town looking for vengeance—and Tucker Cahill. What she finds is a tortured and irresistible man who’s more than meets the eye. Caught up in the past, they are drawn deeper into a twisted game that’s not over yet. And the consequences could prove fatal for them both…

Note

The author provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honestly enthusiastic review!

This is my second B.J. Daniels book, and she is now an auto-buy author for me! Her skillful mix of romance, mystery, and suspense have made this reader stay up very late, frantically turning pages until the totally satisfactory ending was reached! Besides, these novels read like movies! This is especially true of the chapters dealing with the edge-of-your seat struggle between the heroes and the villains. I am adding more of the Montana Cahill books to my Goodreads shelves, as they are really exciting!

I've never read anything quite like these novels before, to be honest. They have an undeniable Western flair, as they all take place in the fictional town of Gilt Edge, Montana (there is actually a mining ghost town by the same name, interestingly enough). There are no ghosts in these novels, though. Instead, the romance novel fan will find cowboys -- gorgeous, wonderful cowboys with a heart of gold. (I say this in spite of how dorky it might sound, because it just happens to be true.)

This novel, like the one I have previously read (Cowboy's Legacy), tells the story of one of the Cahill brothers. This brother, Tucker Cahill, really stands out in the family because he mysteriously disappeared from Gilt Edge nineteen years before this novel starts. Events begin to flow rapidly, one after the other, as soon as he returns. But why did he escape from the town? And why has he chosen to return now, after nineteen years? The answers unfolded in an unforgettable tale that made me yearn to pull up stakes and move to this Montana town, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and yes, I need to say it again -- beautiful cowboys! Lol. 

Tucker soon meets an indomitable woman -- Kate Rothschild, scion of the very political Rothschilds, and investigative reporter. She, too, has a connection to the mysterious events that had taken place nineteen years before. What's more, she has a very personal interest in these events, and won't be deterred from finding answers, even at the risk of her life. 

Of course, sparks fly between Kate and Tucker, and they inevitably become a team as they search for these answers. Their impromptu investigation takes them to other Montana locations, and they find themselves digging into the past, even having to visit a cemetery....

Although the romance is definitely part of the plot, Daniels skillfully interweaves it with a story that has more twists and turns than a bucking bull trying to throw a cowboy off its back! Just when the reader thinks they've guessed what's going to happen next, Daniels throws the proverbial monkey wrench into the works, making it hard to put the book down for even one whole minute. 

The characters are solidly vivid, and very easy to relate to, as well. I loved Tucker, of course! He's such a sweetheart! Besides, he admires Kate, and wants to help her find her own answers. As for Kate, she's extremely independent, eager to shake off her prominent family's political heritage, and strike out on her own. She is brash and outspoken, and yet, soon falls under Tucker's undeniably charming spell. 

As for the secondary characters, I loved them all, and now want to read about their own romantic adventures in the previous novels! Darby and Mariah, Trask and Lillie, Billy Dee and Henry -- all of them form a warm, cozy family where every family member is unconditionally accepted and loved. Last but not least are Flint and Maggie. The latter appears only briefly in this novel (her story, as well as Flint's, is told in Cowboy's Legacy), but Flint does play a bigger part in this novel. He is, after all, the town sheriff, and his brother's strange connection to the skeletal remains discovered near the town creek worries him.  It is his duty to investigate, and he hopes his brother doesn't have a sinister connection to those remains.

In regards to the secondary characters, I loved the subplots they were involved in! Three of the Cahill brides are pregnant, with two of them about to give birth, and probably on the same day..... Another of these characters is also involved in a very poignant search for the daughter she had given up for adoption years before. The denouement of this subplot is a bittersweet one. However, there are also hints of yet another romance in the works, which made me sit up and take notice. I need to keep track of this! 

As for the villain, that person is very well drawn, and utterly Machiavellian in a totally insane, yet believable, way. In fact, when this person was fully revealed, I was reminded of a Hitchcock movie. There was that element that bordered on terror.....that feeling that, if something went wrong, tragedy would ensue. 

I love the pacing of this novel, too. This is a very important component of plots dealing with mystery and suspense. Happily, Daniels makes sure that the reader's interest never flags. Even when she deals with the budding romance between Kate and Tuck, she still manages to connect it to the mystery of the unknown body found near the creek. Their relationship develops even as they strive to uncover clues to the mystery that began so long ago...

Eventually, it becomes all too clear that the whole affair related to the skeletal remains is a sordid one, involving murder and blackmail, as well as the rather sinister religious fanaticism of a very, very strange family.....

I have nothing but great things to say about this novel! You can almost breathe in that clear Montana mountain air, while you sit down to eat Billy Dee's chili, and ponder the conundrums of the Cahill clan. And then you just NEED to follow those Cahill boys around, poking into mysteries until the bad guys (and/or gals) are dealt with, and everyone can mosey on over to the family-owned bar and eatery, and celebrate yet another wedding and new baby arrivals! So treat yourself. Get cozy, wherever you might happen to be (preferably all tucked up -- pun intended -- in bed), and plunge into this wonderful, bigger-than-life romance, mystery, and family drama, all rolled up into one!

MY RATING:

Purchase Links

Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

 

You can WIN a mass market 
paperback copy 

of Outlaw's Honor, Book 2 in the 

Cahill Ranch series!!

This giveaway starts at midnight today, 4/17/18, and ends at midnight on 5/9/18!

***THIS IS A US ONLY GIVEAWAY***

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and actually perform the action

for all the entries selected.

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After that, another winner will be chosen.

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B.J. Daniels' life dream was to be a policewoman. After a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist, she wrote and sold 37 short stories before she finally wrote her first book. Since then she has won numerous awards including a career achievement award last year for romantic suspense.

She lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, two Springer Spaniels, Jem and Spot, and a temperamental tomcat named Jeff. When she isn't writing, she snowboards, camps, boats and plays tennis.

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