Desperate
Measures
By Sandra Orchard
This is book three in
Sandra Orchard’s Port Aster Secrets series.
It might be worth noting at the outset that I did not read books one and
two. In spite of my coming in rather “in
the middle” (or “closer to the end,” it seems) I thought this was a good
book. The romance that began in earlier
books between Kate and Tom continues, but it doesn’t do so from a place that
one would be lost without knowing their history. Orchard also brings her new readers up to
speed on the mystery that has traveled throughout the series.
While the mystery wasn’t
necessarily gripping for me (maybe greater investment comes from reading the
entire series), the characters are written well enough to draw in the reader
and make us care. In addition, Orchard creates
suspense where it is lacking by leaving the reader guessing about who to
trust. Her method of telling the story
in an alternating fashion between Tom and Kate makes this possible.
My biggest complaint is
with the romance. Orchard writes the ups
and downs in Tom and Kate’s relationship rather than making them meet, fall
madly in love, and enjoy a rosy future together. That was a good thing. But for much of this book, Kate alternates
between furious with Tom (and rightly so, given some of the things he did) and
wishing they were together. As a reader,
I do understand the resolution for them it felt a bit contrived and tidier than
it should have done. Finally, there is a
minor character Orchard dropped completely.
He has a history in Port Aster—one that may have been included in the
other books but I was able to easily piece it together—and I wish I knew more
about his future.
I received
this book free from Revell through the Revell Reads Blog Tour Program in
exchange for my honest review. The views I have expressed are my own, and
I was not required to write a positive response.
