Absolutely Awesome!

I loved this book! So glad Chris/Daniel got his HEA. He was such a damaged and troubled character. I was also thrilled to touch base with some of my favorite characters. This series is so great, I hope there will be more.

I finally made time to read Known, the last installment in Kendra Elliot’s Bone Secrets series. This series was the first one I read from Kendra Elliot, and thanks to the Reading Challenge (Finishing the Series), I was able to finish it.

I remembered the MMC, Chris Jacobs, being introduced in Buried (the third installment), and I was glad to know he was getting his story in Known. I appreciated Kendra Elliot’s recap of his character and where I initially met him because here was one reader who thought he deserved HEA. Chris had been put through a trauma that no one should ever experience, and he’s still dealing with the trauma years later. He has the help of Michael and Jamie (the MCs from Buried who play a significant role in Known), who have helped push him to live in the real world again. Chris finds himself in a life/death situation once again in the Cascade Mountains when he stumbles into a situation where he finds a mother and daughter who barely escape their cabin fire. He knows something sinister has happened, especially when he searches the cabin after the fire and finds something unexpected in the charred cabin.

Gianna Trask never expected her weekend trip to the Mountains with her daughter to put them in danger. She’s thankful to the stranger Chris Jacobs, who has decided to help them, but she’s going to be a little leary of him at first because she’s not sure if she should trust him.

Known was another suspenseful ride from Kendra Elliot that was hard to put down. I loved everything about this book, including the romantic storyline between Chris and Gianna. It did take a bit, but that’s only because these two were strangers and were trying to trust each other. Chris had to tell a stranger what happened to him, and Gianna had to confide in Chris to help her and her daughter. Kendra definitely kept me on my toes with this story, trying to figure out what happened at Gianna’s cabin.

I give this book 4.5 stars and highly recommend this book (the whole series) to Romantic Suspense readers. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading this book and finishing this series because now I can check out other books that Kendra has written. I have some catching up to do, but I can do it, especially when Kendra Elliot is one of my favorite Romantic Suspense authors.

I have to admit when it comes to mysteries, Kendra Elliot is one of my go-to authors as I normally love her books, but this one I wasn't feeling it overall. It just felt like too many secrets and unanswered questions for me and things were left hanging a bit. The novel starts with Chris out having some time alone in his cabin whilst his son Brian is at Disneyland with his grandparents. During his stay, he comes across a crashed SUV stuck in the snow - inside is a mother/daughter duo, Gianna and Violet Trask. Chris learns that they fled their cabin as it caught fire and later we discover Gianna was also drugged. Was the fire deliberate or an accident? Upon re-checking the cabin, we learn that there is the smell of burned flesh and things start to get a bit more suspenseful. During this time, the roads are closed as well due to a really bad snowstorm and car crash. Over the next course of the novel, more dead bodies will pile up and it looks like Gianna is the target but we aren't sure what for exactly. For me, when we discovered the reason behind the target on Gianna's back and the events surrounding everything it felt a tad weak for me. I had hoped we would read more about Chris's experience with the GhostMan as that sounded more fascinating. If you are in the mood for romantic suspense and wish to reunite with the characters of the Bone Secrets series, then check out Book #5 - Known, if not then I am on borderline in the mindset of giving this one a miss.

Great story as always, really well written and I wish I had read it sooner! Great plot, and thrilling ending.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

After a brutal snowstorm in the Cascade Mountains, Chris Jacobs discovers two things he never expected to see: the charred shell of a cabin, and Gianna Trask and her sixteen-year-old daughter huddled in an SUV, having barely escaped from their burning vacation rental.
Still scarred from a childhood ordeal, Chris knows there’s something sinister about the scene—it’s the stench of burned flesh.
Forced to wait out the blizzard in their rescuer’s retreat, medical examiner Gianna Trask wonders if her hidden past has finally caught up with her. When a body is found in the destroyed cabin’s ashes and a forest ranger is brutally murdered, both Gianna and Chris must confront their secrets if they want to escape the violent threat lurking outside.

This is the 5th book in the Bone Secrets series. It is recommended they are read in order.

Another romantic thriller that does enough to be interesting - but not enough to stand apart from all the other romantic thrillers that are in the market.

The story seems the same as any other - beautiful girl rescued by a handsome man. They come up against a faceless threat...and fall in love/lust with each other.

The actual story is quite good - lots of twists and turns, good action and pacing. Pretty much well written...

But it just didn't do any more than it had to. And that is disappointing.


Paul
ARH

Known
A Bone Secrets Novel, Book #5
Kendra Elliot
5 Stars


Synopsis:

After a brutal snowstorm in the Cascade Mountains, Chris Jacobs discovers two things he never expected to see: the charred shell of a cabin, and Gianna Trask and her sixteen-year-old daughter huddled in an SUV, having barely escaped from their burning vacation rental.
Still scarred from a childhood ordeal, Chris knows there’s something sinister about the scene—it’s the stench of burned flesh.
Forced to wait out the blizzard in their rescuer’s retreat, medical examiner Gianna Trask wonders if her hidden past has finally caught up with her. When a body is found in the destroyed cabin’s ashes and a forest ranger is brutally murdered, both Gianna and Chris must confront their secrets if they want to escape the violent threat lurking outside.
In the fifth book in the Bone Secrets series, Kendra Elliot leads readers on a dangerous, twisting journey of two lives forever changed by a fiery snowstorm in the mountains. (Goodreads)

Review:

The characters are well developed and well rounded. Gianna is a strong smart woman who has had a very troubled past. She is smart enough to know that she needs help if she is going to stay alive. Chris also has a troubled past, a past that has helped shape him into the man he has become. Together, they must figure out who is after Gianna, if they both want to survive.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book, I felt like I was right there in the mountains, watching all of the action taking place. She is also very talented in building suspense with just the written word. I found myself swiping pages well into the night, when I should have been sleeping. I had to see what was going to happen next, although at times I was afraid to find out.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted mystery suspense. This author is one of my favorites for this genre, I have never read a book of her’s that I did not like. I will have to go back and read the ones from this series that I have missed.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the opportunity to read and review this book

I love the Bone Secrets Series, and this was a great addition. Gianna and Chris are wonderful characters who develop feelings for one another while trying to solve a mystery and keep Gianna and her daughter safe. This one has an interesting storyline, great setting, and plenty of action.