Romantic Suspense published by Grand Central Publishing 16 Aug 22
What I would give if Sandra Brown could possibly release a book every month. Yeah, impossible, I know. But I love her stories so much, from beginning to end, and though I try to slow down and savor each one more than the last, that never happens. Overkill is no exception. The characters are placed in dilemmas the average person would sometimes never overcome, so Zach Bridger, the football superstar still in the limelight, has no way of making life-altering decisions for his ex-wife or himself without the world peeking in and giving him advice, excuses, whatever to make things much more difficult for him.
The author herself says it best on her website about Zach and that terrible dilemma, so I won’t go into that much in this review. It’s the characters, as usual, who make the story, despite how compelling the storyline is. After Zach’s divorce from Rebecca, his career goes down the drain when it comes out he’s got the medical power of attorney as she left things before her one night of drunkenness, which left her in her current state. Now he wants to be left alone, but when Kate Lennon shows up on his property, and even though he’s surly and downright rude, he’s got a new woman in his life who’s going to give him hell once again – only in a much better way this time around, even though they will face a psychopath together before the story is over.
Kate is a top-notch prosecutor, and she’s more than ready to make sure Eban Clarke, Rebecca’s attacker, gets reinstalled in a prison cell after his early release has just come to light. She’s no nonsense and knows her stuff. Only thing is, she’s also got balls when she presents a no-win situation to Zach – pull the plug on Rebecca so Kate can prosecute Eban for murder. Zach also has to fight Rebecca’s father, who still harbors hope his daughter will come out of her comatose, unresponsive state. He’s been waiting four years for that, leading Zach to believe that power of attorney had been transferred to the other man, where it belongs since he’s no longer married to Rebecca. Good thing Zach has the background of a stressful career in the limelight – he needs it to get through everything that father and the media throw at him.
Then there’s the villain. And Eban is one fine example. His father has given him everything he’s ever wanted. Sometimes wealth and privilege aren’t the best things in life. The man is as charming as he is evil. When he learns his old pals aren’t on the same page with him any longer, his devious mind takes over, which also, of course, include Zach and Kate in his plans. He has no compunction killing when it serves his purpose, and he enjoys it to no end. At least in the end, no one really has to think twice dispatching what that man deserves, even his father.
The romance between Zach and Kate is slow in coming, because they both know anything between them is a conflict of interest. But, oh, how do you keep chemistry and sizzle like that locked away? In this case, they don’t, especially when faced with such terrible circumstances and horrendous evil. With every Sandra Brown book, I always say the hero of that current story is my favorite, and Zach is no different. An honorable, sexy man is hard to resist, as Kate eventually realizes. So sit back and enjoy the slow burn as they navigate surviving the worst they’ll ever come up against.
Ms. Brown is an auto-buy for me. I think you will be too, once you give her a chance. Even if it’s not with this book, her romantic suspense stories over the last number of years are just as good, just as wonderfully written, just as emotionally all-encompassing. So if you haven’t read anything by her, get started! You won’t be sorry one bit.
Grade: A
Summary:
Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rebecca Pratt, for some time—not since their volatile marriage imploded—so he’s shocked to receive a life-altering call about her. Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, and he—despite their divorce—has medical power-of-attorney. Zach is asked to make an impossible choice: keep her on life support or take her off of it. Buckling under the weight of the responsibility and the glare of public scrutiny, Zach ultimately walks away, letting Rebecca’s parents have the final say.
Four years later, Rebecca’s attacker, Eban—the scion of a wealthy family in Atlanta—gets an early release from prison. The ludicrous miscarriage of justice reeks of favoritism, and Kate Lennon, a brilliant state prosecutor, is determined to put him back behind bars. Rebecca’s parents have kept her alive all these years, but if her condition were to change—if she were to die—Eban could be retried on a new charge: murder.
It isn’t lost on Zach that in order for Eban to be charged with Rebecca’s murder, Zach must actually be the one to kill her. He rejects Kate’s legal standpoint but can’t resist their ill-timed attraction to each other. Eban, having realized the jeopardy he’s in, plots to make certain that neither Zach nor Kate lives to see the death of Rebecca—and the end of his freedom.
No excerpt available.
