Review: Till Death by Jennifer L. Armentrout
SYNOPSIS:
In New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout’s gripping new novel, a young woman comes home to reclaim her life—even as a murderer plots to end it. . .
It’s been ten years since Sasha Keaton left her West Virginia hometown . . . since she escaped the twisted serial killer known as the Groom. Returning to help run her family inn means being whole again, except for one missing piece. The piece that falls into place when Sasha’s threatened—and FBI agent Cole Landis vows to protect her the way he couldn’t a decade ago.
First one woman disappears; then another, and all the while, disturbing calling cards are left for the sole survivor of the Groom’s reign of terror. Cole’s never forgiven himself for not being there when Sasha was taken, but he intends to make up for it now . . . because under the quirky sexiness Cole first fell for is a steely strength that only makes him love Sasha more.
But someone is watching. Waiting. And Sasha’s first mistake could be her last.
REVIEW:
So I finished this book a few days ago and I liked it but I didn’t love it. The story started off slow for me, for some reason I couldn’t get into it. Sasha was an enigma, I struggled to connect with her as a character and because of this, I didn’t find an abundance of empathy for her. I was very lukewarm on the Sasha situation and as I reflect back on the story, she didn’t really grow as a character, she was stagnant and this lack of depth caused my disinterest.
Now this is the first JLA mystery that I read in which I knew who the killer was. The reason is because you are introduced to so few characters, the pickings are slim. But the Groom’s reasoning behind why he was doing what he was doing, fell short for me. I wanted more of an explanation, it all seemed very rushed and what I am sure was meant to be dramatic, just simply fizzled out for me. The climax in the storyline just didn’t do it for me, I felt cheated and almost wished JLA would have picked some random character that was never introduced to be the Groom.
I think another issue I had with the story was Cole and the whole second-chance romance. Not only because I am super picky about second-chance romances, but they had no communication for 10 years and then, BAM, less than a week later they were “in love”. Too much, too fast, and there were really no conversations between Cole and Sasha that had them truly reconnecting. It was like they spent 10 years pinning after each other and then magically, they seamlessly get back together. NO. I needed more character depth and while the mystery was the focal point, if there was enough time for Cole and Sasha to bang, there was enough time for them to have a heart-to-heart.
Overall, like I said, I enjoyed the tension and drama around the Groom but I didn’t fall in love with the story. I really liked the little exerts from the Groom’s mind where you see just how twisted in the head he was. But the lack of character depth and how things just seemed so easy for Sasha after coming back home after being away for 10 years took away from the story. Things are never that easy.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
