Review: No Turning Back by Tiffany Snow

To sum it up: Kathleen Turner has goals. She moved to Indianapolis to start seeing to them, but things aren't going quite as well as she'd hoped. She's a runner for a high-powered law firm in town, not the most prestigious of positions, but it and her part-time bartender gig at least pays the bills. And one of the senior partners is a dreamboat in that obscenely rich, disturbingly good looking, slightly snobbish sort of way.

Before she did a mortifying face plant in his lap during a meeting, she was quite happy ogling him from afar. After that... well... she was more about the avoiding. Mature, no. More likely to assure she keeps her job, yes.

She's made some friends in the few months she's been in Indy. One of those friends is her neighbor Sheila, though Kathleen can't say she's completely comfortable with Sheila's job choice as a high-dollar escort.

It's the middle of the night when Kathleen hears fighing coming from Sheila's apartment. As disturbing as that is, it's the ominous sound of silence afterwards that keeps Kathleen from falling back to sleep. Slipping from bed with the intention of making sure everything is okay, Kathleen knocks on friend's door, only to find Sheila murdered, her naked body sprawled on sheets stained crimson with her blood.

Shock and horror are followed by gritty determination when it becomes clear that Sheila's death isn't random and it isn't the result of a jealous boyfriend. It's the opening gambit in a web of murder, deceit, conspiracy, and fraud that stretches to the law firm for which Kathleen works. Maybe to the very office that Blane Kirk commands.

And Kathleen Turner, law office runner, can trust no one if she wants to survive.

★ ★Over-all rating? 2 ½ Stars.★ ★

Initially, I got this book as a freebie a few months ago. It sounded like an enjoyable enough read, and it got some pretty impressive ratings and reviews. But while I was expecting a romantic suspense novel that would blow me away, what I got instead was a feeling of complete boredom disappointment.

I’ll admit… when I first started this book, I definitely felt that it held some promise for being a book worth reading- but that quickly snow-balled down the drain, and fast. For starters, the mystery and crimes were ridiculous- I can’t even count the number of eye-rolls I made. I understand that characters featured in romantic suspense novels have a way of overcoming some pretty outrageous obstacles that more than likely any human being in the real world would never make it through… but this book took that to the extreme. I also found myself completely bored through more than half the novel- not exactly a very promising quality. One thing that’s a complete must for me is character development- without it, a book can lose major points- after-all, emotion and depth is what we live for in our romance novels, is it not? Having no emotional connection with characters leaves us feeling empty… and that’s exactly what I felt throughout this story.

The heroine, Kathleen Turner, could have been a likeable heroine for me- she was shy, honest, and very sweet- all characteristics that I’m a big fan of. But her naivety eventually got the best of her, and a character that held promise for me, ended up turning out to be… well… stupid, if I’m being honest. She had been shot at, attacked, man-handled, and beaten… yet she continued to throw herself into the line of fire, trust complete strangers with her life, and have random make-out sessions with some pretty shady characters. I had to fight the urge to throw my kindle every time she stumbled into danger, but was never smart enough to cut her losses and head in the direction of safety. I also found it very convenient that every person she happened to come across just happened to have exactly what she needed at the time. ...Enter another eye-roll.

Let’s face it: We all look for, and expect that extremely alpha and over-protective/possessive hero when reading a book in the romantic suspense genre- the type of hero who’s always saving the damsel in distress with every turn of the page, and showing us how truly swoon-worthy he really is in the midst of all that. But the two potential prospects for the hero in this book were just a bit… well… creepy. They’re handsome, sure. Over-protective as well. But one works in the shadows and pops out only when you least expect it, and the other is an attractive and powerful ladies man, who may or may not be involved in some pretty shady dealings.

Over-all, I just felt no emotional connection with any of the characters or the story... everything felt forced, yet nothing felt real. Details just didn’t tie together, and there was no in-depth research to make the story convincing in any way and made what had potential to be a good read, turn into a completely ridiculous and far-fetched novel. Sure this book may have some stereotypical elements that we all enjoy in the romantic suspense genre, and I can (kind of) see why this series developed a lot of fans… but needless to say, I won’t be reading the sequel, and would definitely recommend that you look elsewhere for a more believable and suspenseful story.