Since I rushed through the prequel novella ‘Forged in Darkness’ I was really looking forward to the first ‘real’ book of the series and if anything it only got better.

The book starts with a scene that has you hooked immediately and it takes some time until we figure out what this was all about.
I love that the twists and turns aren’t predictable and you keep questioning yourself how new clues fit in everything you already figured out.

So we’re not completely blindsided by the revelations in the last chapters but we also didn’t see it coming all along. At least it was like that for me. I had some inklings and suspicions but there were still open questions and I think this is not an easy task to do with suspense novels (and movies too). I get easily bored when it’s too obvious but I also don’t like it when the revelation comes out of nowhere because I had zero chance as a reader to figure it out.

So for me Kendra did a great job keeping up the suspense, giving us hints here and there but always leaving some questions open until the end.

I loved the characters, especially Cameron. He was so genuinely caring, understanding and thoughtful. Very rarely personally offended and always tried to see his own mistakes in situations that caused some kind of harm even though he was the one who could have been resentful toward Bristol.

Bristol was a bit harder to like or harder to understand. You can see she is struggling to trust, to be open, to overcome her trauma and to not let it define her and she really really tries and I admire that about her. She questions her faith, her life decisions and what she really wants but in relation to Cameron she is very stubborn and doesn’t doubt her decision from years back to not only leave her hometown but also her boyfriend who just proposed behind.

“Bristol, have you ever considered that sometimes our goals change as we figure out God’s plan for our lives?”

But when she starts opening up to him again she seems to behave erratically. Like she reacts this way one second and the next Cameron has to be so careful how to phrase things. On the one hand she is a very rational character, on the other it’s like walking on eggshells with her. She is so adamant about being this independent career woman that she is blind to what could be and makes stupid mistakes (in regard to her relationship with Cameron but also to the whole danger she was in). First it annoyed me but the more I thought about it the more I could relate to her. People aren’t only rational or only emotional or whatever and usually it’s the people closest to us who can trigger irrational responses. So I think Bristol is a bit exhausting to be around but a very authentic character who tries very hard and that is actually what matters.

Cameron emphasizes this at least two times and it’s such a refreshing view of things when it’s such a mainstream thing to say “you’re perfect as you are, just love yourself” and so on, when simultaneously a lot of people are struggling with not being perfect. So I love the approach of always trying to improve but not despairing if we’re not perfect.

“You don’t have to be perfect,” Cam said, shaking his head. “You just need to try. That’s all I could hope to ask of you.”

“... but I know I still have a long way to go. I’m trying. I just need you to let me.”

Like in the prequel novella I loved how important faith and God were to the characters and to the story and that Bristol decided to trust in God again as she opened up to Cameron as well.

“Once I lost the habit of talking to God, it just got easier and easier to forget about Him completely.”
“Do you ever think about coming back?” he asked. “To the Lord, I mean?”
Her voice was a whisper. “All the time.”

Cameron doesn’t shy away from speaking the truth and talking openly about his faith. I especially love the prayer he speaks over Bristol. Not because of the prayer itself but because he was so nervous and didn’t feel too comfortable praying aloud but he does it anyway because of what this means to Bristol and her relationship to God.

He had never liked praying in front of other people, and no matter how much he always tried to speak from the heart, his brain had a way of second-guessing his words the second it was too late to take them back.

If you haven’t already guessed - I really loved this book and can’t wait for Grace’s and Ben’s story to come out!

* I received an advanced copy of the book and am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you Kendra for letting me read your amazing debut suspense novel! ( )