Books & Spoons Review for BEYOND CONTROL by Kat Martin

When Victoria Langford got engaged, she told herself to give love a chance. Six months later, she's on the run from her angry, abusive ex-fiancé with her four-year-old daughter and nowhere to go.

Seventy miles north of Dallas, the Iron River Ranch is pretty much nowhere. That’s what its new owner, Josh Cain, wanted when he came back from Afghanistan. Big skies, quiet nights, no trouble.

One look tells Josh the pretty redhead with the adorable little girl will give him trouble of the most personal kind. But he’s seen trouble before, and he doesn't scare easy. Not when “accidents” start happening around the ranch. Not when Tory’s best friend back in Phoenix is abducted and brutalized. Not even when it looks like their current problems are only the tip of the iceberg.

But if he gets too close to fierce, determined Tory, Josh knows his nights are going to be anything but quiet. And that’s one possibility no amount of training can prepare him for . . .

---

A riveting, intense, emotional, ardent, sweet story that enticed my mind, touched my emotions and scared the daylights out of me. 
Ever read a romantic suspense story with such vivid images, such a fear factor, that after you finish reading it late at night you go around making sure your windows are locked, and that you are safe inside? Yeah, Beyond Control did that to me, and that does not happen often. 
The danger and attacks in the story are coming from more than one source, leaving the protagonists into the dire crossfires, personal attacks, fighting for their lives. No one is safe and collateral damage is not an issue, anything goes. The violence is vivid, and the brutal attacks towards women are detailed, drawn with clear and graphic lines, that enhance the storytelling but can trigger someone unexpectedly. The story is told from multiple points of views, in the third person, and the culprits get his chance to show his wicked, evil mindset as well, his thoughts and actions giving me the chills. 
The whole ensemble is filled with fascinating, likable characters, and they contribute to the story, even a secondary love interest is part of the tale. 
The hero and heroine, Victoria Langford and Josh Cain, are both complex, deep, well thought out and drawn characters that were easy to like and cheer for. Their stories were heartbreaking yet they had that unwavering will to survive, to make things better, to learn from the past mistakes, and thrive. The adoration and attraction between them were palpable, I loved watching them fall deeper each day, protecting each other, helping each other, and getting to know each other while learning to live with their inner demons and past mistakes. There were openness and honesty, fear and hesitation, even mixed messages and messed up minds, but there was never doubt about their feelings for each other. 
With fierce and sharp suspense, brutal and savage attacks and action, adorable and ardent romance, life stories that had me sighing and my eyes burn with tears, the author tells a story that touched my heart and my emotions. While being entertaining and engrossing romantic suspense, the story was also inspiring and compelling, the domestic abuse scenes shattered my heart, but made me want to take action to provide a safe haven for the victims. 
A delightfully enticing, exciting, entertaining, and horrid action-packed thriller, just perfectly balanced romantic suspense
~ Five Spoons

---

Currently living outside Missoula, Montana, Kat Martin is the New York Times bestselling author of over sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. Before she started writing, Kat was a real estate broker. During that time, she met her husband, L. J. Martin, an author of Westerns and high-action Thrillers. Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. She spends her winters in California not far from her alma mater.
To date, Kat has over sixteen million copies of her books in print. She is published in more than two dozen foreign countries, including Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Russia, England, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Japan and Greece.
Kat is currently writing her next Romantic Suspense.

Currently residing with her husband, a Western-writer and photographer, in Missoula, Montana, USA. But when they are not writing, they also enjoy skiing and traveling, particularly to Europe. 

---