Books & Spoons Review for THE VIEW FROM RAINSHADOW BAY BY Colleen Coble

5/2/2018

After her husband, Jack, dies in a climbing incident, Shauna has only her five-year-old son and her helicopter charter business to live for. Every day is a struggle to make ends meet and she lives in constant fear of losing even more than she already has.

When her business partner is murdered, his final words convince Shauna that she’s in danger too. But where can she turn? Zach Bannister was her husband’s best friend and is the person she blames for his death. She’s barely spoken to him since. But right now he seems her only hope for protecting her son.

Zach is only too happy to assuage his guilt over Jack’s death by helping Shauna any way he can. But there are secrets involved dating back to Shauna’s childhood that more than one person would prefer to stay hidden.

In The View from Rainshadow Bay, suspense, danger, and a longing to love again ignite amid the gorgeous lavender fields of Washington State.

An intense, harsh, and inspiring story that took my breath away with the instant, 'in-your-face' type of deadly action.
The author hits from the very start with brutal attacks that kills some of the major players in the story, where no one is safe from the villains, the clues are minimal, and the danger and fear are constant companions. Shauna and Zach are trying to solve several mysteries, some dating back all the way to Shauna's childhood, that suddenly seems to have some common denominators.
This story kept me on the edge from the start to finish. The relationship between Shauna and Zach is volatile because of the past. Zach is a good man, he is honest, caring, protective, and generous. He is a venturesome man who loves to take risks and test his limits. But the risks he has taken since his best friend died have had a new kind of edge to them. The guilt is eating him inside out, and the vedge between him and Shauna and her son is slowly breaking his heart.
Shauna lost her husband in a rock climbing incident. She has blamed Zach for the death of Jack, kept her son away from his godfather, and made it clear to everyone in town that she hates what Zach had done by daring her husband to climb the mountain that killed him. She is a feisty woman, passionate and capable. And she is devastated that the only person who can help her and protect her from the killer is the one she wanted to stay away from.
The themes of acceptance, forgiveness, and falling in love are well twined into suspense and action that kept the story going. The muddled relationships, the gossip of the town, the questions, and suspicions, the lingering anger from the past, it all build a sharp and strong story with intriguing and appealing plot twists. Even though the character's faith in God is a known assumption, it is not the main focus of the tale, but it is the main force guiding the characters actions and thoughts.
I enjoyed the mystery in the story, it kept me guessing to the very end. I might have had my suspicions but needed my confirmations when it came to the culprits. The romance between two longtime friends was tastefully yet passionately and ardently done. I loved the relationship Zach had with Shauna's son, there were so much admiration and trust in between them.
The whole story was build up with very realistic and rational way, that made it dangerously lifelike and alarmingly realistic. On the edge of your seat suspense with multiple layers of danger and threats mixed with sweet and clean yet amorous romance, family drama, and small-town issues, a story that took my breath away with its intensity and had me staying up late to find out whodunnit.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

USAToday bestselling author Colleen Coble lives with her husband, Dave, in Indiana.
She is the author of dozens of novels including the Rock Harbor Series, the Aloha Reef Series, the Mercy Falls Series, the Hope Beach Series, the Lonestar Series and two Women of Faith fiction selections, Alaska Twilight and Midnight Sea. She has more than 2 million books in print.