A ★★★ Book Review of Standoff by Patricia Bradley | A Romantic Suspense Novel

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell at Baker Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts below are my own. Also, this blog post includes affiliate links which means I will receive a commission based on sales generated via these links.

A great new series in a captivating location!

Author Patricia Bradley welcomes readers to small town Natchez, Mississippi and captures their attention with this exciting new novel incorporating intriguing historic and scenic points of interests into a suspenseful, dramatic story. Murder, bombings, drug running and more will keep readers turning the pages with surprises around every turn!

"An explosive start to a brand-new series."--Lisa Harris, bestselling author of the Nikki Boyd series

The Natchez Trace National Parkway stretches 444 miles from Nashville to Natchez, the oldest town on the Mississippi River. It's the perfect road for a relaxed pleasure drive. Unfortunately for Luke Fereday, it's also perfect for moving drugs.

Sent to Natchez to infiltrate the organization at the center of the drug ring, Luke arrives too late to a stakeout and discovers the body of his friend, park ranger John Danvers. John's daughter Brooke is determined to investigate her father's murder but soon finds herself the target of a killer who will do anything to silence her.

Luke will have his hands full keeping her safe. But who's going to keep him safe when he realizes he's falling--hard--for the daughter of the man he failed to save? - Synopsis from Standoff by Patricia Bradley

"Brimming with action, romance, and page-turning thrills. What a fantastic start to a brand-new series!"--Elizabeth Goddard, award-winning author of the Uncommon Justice series

"With a plot as twisting as the villain's schemes, Patricia Bradley's Standoff spins a tale that will keep the reader racing through the pages."--Lynn H. Blackburn, author of the Dive Team Investigations series

Buy on Amazon

★★★ | This is a solid three stars read in my opinion for romantic suspense with the biggest points given for suspense, setting and educational details. I really enjoyed learning more about the Natchez Trace and its surrounding area. Bradley does an excellent job of bringing the cultural, historical and scenic aspects of the location to life. The suspense builds over the course of the novel and a little over halfway through, the book really snagged my attention. Another great feature of this novel is how Bradley integrated the various roles of the park ranger service positions. As a result, I learned many things I didn’t already know.

What kept me from tipping this book over into the four star category were the characters and the ending. The amount of characters and multiple viewpoints in the beginning of this story left me a little confused and jumped around too often for my taste. I wasn’t able to connect well with the main characters in this story, unfortunately, but I really wanted to! Brooke came across as a bit immature at her supposed age and the narrative that her parents didn’t support her becoming law enforcement was too repetitive. While I understood why Luke did the things he did to protect his undercover status, I felt he didn’t have enough internal conflict over lying to someone he considered a good friend and was developing deeper feelings for thus making him appear shallow. However, I did appreciate his heroism and protective nature over Brooke. As for the ending, well, it wrapped up really fast with a romantic suspense novel cliche and left little to be savored for me.

Overall, the book was good and just that. For me, it redeemed itself about 2/3 of the way through when I felt hooked and wanted to know how the suspense played out. The romance aspect strengthened and I enjoyed the deeper dive into the characters feelings and thoughts. The suspense was great right from the start, and moved along well while the plot was pretty strong. And again, the historical, educational and location aspects were really enjoyable. As a result, I’m looking forward to giving the second book in this series a read when it releases! This book is appropriate for readers 16+.