Have You Seen Her?

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The killer is slowly building up his confidence and starts taunting detective Thatcher trying to prove he is smarter than them and unstoppable. This was the second book by Ms. Rose I read, after Don't Tell inspired me to acquire the entire "series" of her books. The readers of Don't Tell will see the consequences and the devastation domestic violence have on everyone evolved. Also, in some sections of the community domestic violence against family members are overlooked or what happens between couples behind closed doors are private and not their business. The Readers of Don't Tell will learn the importance of safe houses for women and children to find a safe place after escaping from violent relationships.

First, the hero and his mentality annoyed me. He was all over the place with the heroine, trusting her one moment, "hating" her the next...And then expected her to forgive him. I know, I know, his behavior was explained, and I got it, really, I did, but still, Ms. Rose went a little over the top with the jerk.

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Karen Rose has masterfully written a riveting story involving domestic violence and the triumph of the human spirit. Caroline isn't the only one in the story to rise above her circumstances. Max is recovering from a life altering and devastating accident from twelve years ago. Dana, Caroline's best friend and manager of a women's shelter, came out of an abusive marriage. The lead investigator, Steven Thatcher, is raising three sons on his own following the death of his wife. All are involved in the culmination of the confrontation with Rob. The romance isn't the main focus of this book but I thought it was nicely balanced with the suspense. I was mostly interested in the suspense anyway so I didn't mind. We know who the bad guy is from the very beginning so this isn't a who-dunit but more of a when-are-they-going-to-catch-him type of book. Our hero and heroine are blissfully going about their lives, tentatively beginning a new relationship while never knowing that the psycho husband is closing in on them. You pray that he will be caught soon because the body count in this book is really high. Anytime Winters was front and center I felt like he was this unstoppable Angel of Death. He just kept circling tighter and tighter around Caroline and I was breathlessly awaiting the moment when he would strike. Part of my unease about this book was knowing that Max was physically unable to protect her. Of course this is fiction and the good guys must triumph but it definitely made it more interesting in an edge-of-your-seat sort of way. Max wasn't some ex-soldier or FBI agent who knew how to save the day. He was a handicapped history professor and while he was certainly willing to put himself in harms way for Caroline and her son, when push came to shove, he had a bad leg. This leaves most of the hope for Caroline's survival on her own shoulders and I loved that. I loved reading about her facing her husband again, thwarting him even and challenging his dominion over her. I loved it. Investigating the horrific murder of a teenage cheerleader and coping with his traumatized 7 year old, Special Agent Steven Thatcher has his hands full. But things can always get worse and they do when another dead girl is found and Steven's eldest son, Brad, starts failing in school. Brad's teacher, Jenna Marshall reaches out to help, and she and Steven realize they have more in common than their concern for Brad. As they grow closer, however, so does the killer who seems to have turned his sights on Jenna. Mary Grace Winters had to get out. Get out of a miserable, fear-filled existence at the hands of her physically and mentally abusive husband. She had to get out of it not only for herself but for her son. She can’t go to the police since that’s where her husband works. So she does the next best thing: she makes a run for it. And that’s how Caroline Stewart is born. These two are surrounded by secondary and ancillary characters that could be neighbors and friends, they're so realistic, and Steven's boys are particularly endearing - especially Matt. They all round out and embellish a twisted, intricate plot of death and deception that is told with Rose's impeccable style and timing. The mystery was dual pronged and nicely layered, and while the perpetrator of the slaughter of innocent girls maybe isn't the hardest thing to figure out early on, the big picture is much less so and the story provided enough twists and turns and surprises to keep me invested throughout.

Grade A romantic suspense. Just an all-around excellent read. I was thoroughly hooked right from the beginning. Don't Tell also has an incredible cast of supporting characters who are loaded with depth and whom I fell in love with almost instantly. Many of them pop up again in later books and/or become the hero or heroine of their own book. Steven Thatcher is the special agent assigned to investigate the disappearance of Mary Grace Winters when her car is finally found in a lake. It only took a moment for me to start wondering if this guy was going to be a future hero, and I was thrilled to find out that he is in the very next book, Have You Seen Her?. I loved his determination to bring Rob Winters to justice and that he never wavered in his belief that the man was as guilty as sin even though others did. Caroline's son, Tom, is such a good kid. He's very protective of his mother, and understandably has a hard time trusting men, especially around her. I admired his strength and maturity in the face of everything that happened both in the past and the present. Once he ages and matures, I think he would make great hero material. Caroline's best friend, Dana, is another strong woman who has been through a lot in her life. I really enjoyed the banter between this pair and how Dana is always the voice of reason. She also becomes the heroine of Nothing to Fear. Max's brother, David, is an out-going charmer who would be nearly impossible not to like. His loyalty to Max is absolutely endearing, and what he did to get a predatory co-worker to leave Max alone was utterly hilarious as it was, but even more so because I wasn't expecting such a funny scene in an otherwise pretty serious book. David gets to be in a couple more books before finally becoming the hero of Silent Scream. Caroline's friend and Dana's roommate, Evie initially didn't win points with me because of some bad choices she made, but I couldn't help sympathizing with her anyway. It seems she had as bad of a life as Caroline and Dana but is still rather young and naïve and hasn't quite learned the lessons that the other two women have yet. She also paid for her mistakes in the worst way imaginable. I'll be looking forward to seeing her redemption in I Can See You. These and a whole host of other secondary characters, all of whom were very well-written, made this a tight and well-rounded story. Dirty Secrets ( St. Petersburg, Florida novella, previously published in the anthology Hot Pursuit) There is plenty of sex and violence in this book. Not for the faint hearted: drugs, mental illness, murder, rape, kidnap. Oh there's romance too. :) The serial killer plot is well done with some excellent twists and turns although a careful reader will find it very easy to identify the culprit.It does push one of my buttons in a way as I am so tired of abusive husband and father stories. The fact that they're out there is undeniable. But please be aware that all husbands and fathers are not abusers and seeing "men" (and most of us who are men hate that the word is used for these creatures) when they see other men abusing family members (or others) most (I hope) men are repulsed. Whether modern women want it or not most of us would stand between you and whatever threatens (yes I know, you don't need a man to protect you, it's not PC and all the other. We're still willing). The tension was felt throughout the book. I love nothing more, than when an author can make me feel the same level of fear and panic, that the characters are subjected to. Karen Rose does just that' Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn't concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.” The mystery involving the serial killer has a limited number of suspects but it still was a challenging case with a few red herrings thrown in the mix. The crimes were pretty gruesome and heartbreaking as the victims were only 16 years old. I was able to figure out the killer about halfway through but continued to challenge my choice almost to the end. This is a very suspenseful story with just the right balance of romance. Steven and Jenna are sympathetic characters who seem well suited for each other. His children and Aunt Helen also provide some much needed comic relief to the story. Special Agent Steven Thatcher and his family are still recovering from his son's abduction six months ago during one of his cases when he lands another case involving a missing teenager. He soon realizes he's dealing with a serial killer when a second teenage girl goes missing. Meanwhile, he's trying to deal with his problems at home as his oldest son has had a personality change and is failing chemistry. When Steven meets with his teacher, Jenna Marshall, there is plenty chemistry to go around.

Steven’s treatment of Jenna really pissed me off at times, and she was waaay more accepting and forgiving of his behavior than I would have been. I understand the fact that he's under considerable, agonizing stress raising three boys as a widower and working on a high profile, gruesome serial killer case, but she was nothing but helpful with his kids, caring, supportive, nurturing, and genuine. He constantly lashed out at her and acted like a jealous, petulant jerk 90% of the time, and there were a couple of times that I thought she would have been within her rights to slap him good. And call me shallow, but the description of his looks didn’t quite scream “Tall, Dark, and Handsome” to me, so that coupled with his less than stellar treatment of such a lovable heroine, and I was really put off. He eventually sees the error of his ways, vows to do better, and shows her tenderness, but he's definitely not one of my favorite romantic heroes. I enjoyed this one even though the subject matter was tough to deal with at times. Why not a four star then? First off, I have been on a bit of a Romantic Suspense binge in the last couple of weeks and have devoured a lot of Sandra Brown’s books…. and I think the bar was set too high with her. I kept on comparing her books to this one. If you like your hanky-panky on the sweat-inducing side, this is the book for you. I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it because the sexual tension in this book was so intense. And that’s just the tension part. The hanky-part broke my air conditioning, it was so hot. This is not a book to be read in public because even though the cover isn’t very conspicuous in screaming “I’m a romance novel, bitches!”, the sex scenes will have you squirming and feeling mighty uncomfortable, as if the casual stranger walking by would be able to read your thoughts inside your head whilst you’re reading this book.Her debut suspense novel, DON'T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published fifteen more novels and two novellas. Her seventeenth novel, ALONE IN THE DARK, will be released in 2016. Offering heart-racing thrills, both in the bedroom and the forensics lab, this second romantic intrigue from Rose ( Don't Tell Attention to the little things had kept them safe. And it was way, way better to be safe than sorry. Sorry equaled dead." this book is another hit. The story unfolds with a twist... which makes one realise how a good author can wind a reader around her/his finger. A most enjoyable read and hard to put down' Readers knows the identity of the villain from the outset so there was no mystery. His agenda was clear. However, the paths the author traversed were edgy, gritty and thrilling. She had me reading/listening intently as I was eager to learn how things would fare out for Caroline. I feared for Caroline and all who encountered the sadist.

The book was a romantic suspense, but it wasn't suspenseful in the sense of a "who-done-it" type of deal. You knew throughout the book who the bad guy was. The suspense was more about how it was all going to play out. Even though there weren't a lot of twists and turns and you weren't guessing about the bad guy, Rose manages to really pull you into the story. You're on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. True, the plot isn't the most original - an abusive husband stalking his wife - but with the emotional aspects and the details, Rose keeps the book from being typical. This was my second read by author Karen Rose, and it's a very good romantic suspense; but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as her first book, Don't Tell. The plot is tightly drawn, the villain is uber creepy, scary, and sadistic, the heroine, teacher Jenna Marshall, is spunky and endearing, and the suspense is edgy and intense, but the hero, Special Agent Steven Thatcher, who played a key role in Don't Tell, really got on my nerves in this one. Don't Tell is a book about the desperate flight of a mother to keep her son safe and the need of finding someone to love. Mary Grace Winters run away from her abusive husband with their son Robbie. To protect herself and her son Mary Grace changed her name to Caroline Stewart and kept a quiet life in Chicago. However, Caroline Stewart did not realise that her safe life will change until Dr Maximillian Alexander Hunter became her new boss and her estranged husband realise that Mary Grace was not dead. The Readers of Don't Tell will follow the twist and turns with Caroline Stewart and Dr Maximillian Alexander Hunter blossom romance and law enforcement investigation into Rob Winters. The two meet in less than ideal circumstances and while neither of them is looking for a relationship, the attraction between them is undeniable and they end up tentatively dating.Have You Seen Her? is book two of Romantic Suspense series by Karen Rose. When a young girl's body founded in a clearing and another girl's body couple days later, Special Agent Steven Thatcher started to think that there is a serial killer on the lose. However, Special Agent Steven Thatcher had other worries when his eldest son teacher Dr Jenna Marshall called him with about Brad deteriorating school work. From their first meeting, they felt the chemistry between them. The readers of Have You Seen Her? will follow the twists and turned in the murder investigation and the romance between Special Agent Steven Thatcher and Dr Jenna Marshall.