The Pennsylvania Parks series is an interconnected Christian Suspense Romance series with partly recurrent characters and I read all three of them one after the other in two weeks.

We already know Samantha and Gavin as side characters from book one and I liked them both, even though by then we didn’t know much about them.

Sadly I felt little to no connection to them in this book and where I was annoyed with the FMC in book 1, but could get behind the love aspect, the characters having history together, the romance in this book fell totally flat for me.

There were a few things from the beginning that felt off, like they both had already a set picture of the other one because of one brief interaction and still it was definitely an insta love situation, that seemed to be based solely on looks. Their interactions and the dialogue in general was kind of stiff, I think due to the lack of narration surrounding the dialogue, it read sometimes a bit like a theater script. Sam’s reasons for being hesitant were also not logical and she really got on my nerves with her childish behavior.

Like in book 1 I ended up being totally annoyed by the FMC but in this case the other characters didn’t make up for it.

My main issue with the relationship between Sam and Gavin other than me not feeling any connection between them at all, despite them repeatedly telling me how special their bond was, was something revealed early on in the book. Since this is still a spoiler, especially if you haven’t read book 1 but are planning to, I’m hiding the text. But for this book, I wouldn’t even really consider it a spoiler.

— mild spoilers ahead —

[So Gavin was dating Sandra, the bodyguard that was killed in book one, only months ago. He even tells Sam he was going to propose, already having a ring. We see no grieving AT ALL, he is immediately thinking about Sam as “the perfect woman for him”, literally months after the woman he wanted to marry is killed while working for him. This didn’t seem right. Especially considering that the whole book, the whole romance is taking place while Gavin’s sister is missing, probably kidnapped by a group of rapists, murderers and psychopaths and he has nothing better to do than pursue a woman who is being bratty and spiteful most of the time.
And everybody around them is behaving equally inappropriate.

“I’ve never seen him so smitten before. It’s cute.”

This is said by Gavin’s sister in law literally while Gavin and his brother are making a plan on how to save their sister. And also, I’m repeating myself - he wanted to marry another woman only months before and was never so smitten?

This is only one of many examples, like when several law enforcement operatives are strategizing (because several young women including Gavin’s and Gray’s sister are held hostage…) and then starting randomly talking about Sam’s and Gavin’s dating life. Like what is wrong with these people? Why don’t they concentrate on the imminent danger, concerning Gavin’s sister??

When Sam is insisting that she doesn’t need Gavin to protect her.

“Nobody is getting their paws on me. And I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

His last girlfriend was a trained bodyguard who was killed on duty. Who does she think she is? This is such an insensitive thing to say. But everybody says stuff that isn’t tactful, so I could let it slide as a slip up. But instead of cringing and apologizing, she repeats the thought, only focusing on her feelings, on her pride.

“I’m a big girl, Gavin. I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, I get it Gavin. You have a god complex.”

It must have been hurtful to Gavin after what he’s been through and it’s extremely stupid to think she can handle multiple armed psychopaths on her own. Talking about a god complex… And of course she ends up in the hands of said psychopaths, not able to take care of the situation on her own.

I’m ending my rant now, but it really irked me and did nothing to endear any of the characters to me. (hide spoiler)]

— end spoiler —

Like in book 1 I preferred the suspense part to the romance part and it was an interesting plot. This and the faith messages were the aspects of the book that kept me from DNFing. Even though I didn’t really like the characters, I can appreciate how Sam recognized that God wasn’t the one who failed her and that she learns to put her trust in Him again while Gavin had strong faith from the beginning and we see that in most situations.

Like I said in the beginning, I read all three books in the series and since I obviously didn’t enjoy this second one too much, I’m happy to say book 3 did surprise me and was in my opinion by far the best book of the series.

I generally don’t enjoy cheesy romances, so maybe this was partly a me problem because I know there are people who like insta love and kind of corny love stories and will enjoy this book. So I’m giving this book a 3,5 star rating.

* Thank you to the author for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and the expressed opinions are my own. ( )