Review: Beguiled

Title: Beguiled
Authors: Deeanne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand
Published: 2010 by Bethany House Publishing
Version: Paperback
Obtained: Bought

Rylee Monroe, a dogwalker in Charleston's wealthiest neighborhood, never feared the streets at night. But now a thief is terrorizing the area and worse, someone seems to be targeting her. Reporter Logan Woods is covering the break-ins with the hope of publishing them as a true-crime book. The more he digs, the more he realizes this beguiling dogwalker seems to be at the center of everything.As danger draws ever closer, Logan must choose: Chase the girl, the story, or plunge into the shadows after the villain who threatens everything?

 

 

First Sentence:
“Something wasn’t right.”

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Ugh. I’m just going to say it right up front: I did not enjoy this book.

Imagine this scenario. Take Christian aspiring romantic fiction novelist. Combine her with an “acclaimed, yet has only written one book” Christian suspense writer. Now have them write a book combining both of their interests: suspense and describing attractive people.
Yeah. It didn’t work.

Not only was the descriptions of both Rylee and Logan cringingly awkward, but their entire romance was just…ehh. They were cute together and I appreciated his concern for her safety, but they went from zero to ninety in a week or two. Annoyingly, unbelievably fast. Obviously they were attracted to each other. I had to spend half the book listening to them moon on about each other’s stunning muscles, long legs, attractive figures, tempting lips, etc, etc, etc. It was like a trashy romance novel turned Christian.

The underlying message was not particularly compelling and the final moment of tension (like all intense novels have) was rather lame. The only reason I kept reading was to get closure about the mystery. With so many options for the culprit, I could not even begin to assume my guess was correct. Honestly, once I found out who it was…it was just disappointing.

But if you like an interesting suspense/mystery novel that’s Christian, and can cringe past the terrible descriptions like I did, read it. The portions that Mr. Bertrand contributed do work, while Ms. Gist needs to work on her writing.

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Content Warnings: Kissing

Rating: