I always enjoy Karen Rose’s romantic suspense novels and “The One Who Walked Away” was right up there with the best.
Elle Randolph is a “bounty hunter”: who is in pursuit of a runaway fugitive along with her boss and friend, Sara.
However the “jumper” is hard to find and when people start to die after talking to Elle and Sara, Elle becomes a suspect. Detective Ronan Clarke suspects the ladies are not telling him everything and it soon becomes clear he is right! Elle has a difficult back story which she is trying to escape and is also conflicted about revealing too much information about the fugitive they are chasing. As the murders mount up, Ronan realises he is beginning to have feelings for Elle but can she be trusted?
I really enjoyed the fast paced nature of this book as well as the smouldering romance between the two main characters. The small town setting was well, described, a place where everyone knows everyone else- even the local cops have connections to the victims making the desire to solve the crimes all the more compelling.
Karen Rose certainly knows how to portray sympathetic characters- I really felt for Elle and her predicament and the description of Ronan definitely made him sound like the sort of person I would like to meet! His daughter, Penny seemed well brought up and old beyond her years showing what a good single father Ronan had been- another positive aspect of to his character!
I definitely recommend this book to Karen Rose fans and for those of you who haven’t read her books why not give this one a try?
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.