Books & Spoons Review for WHISPERING SPRINGS by Amanda Stevens

1/1/2018

The first secret is personal. The second one is a killer…

The trip with old friends to Whispering Springs should have been a happy reunion. Yet former army ranger Dylan Burkhart suspects there’s something darker at play. It doesn’t take long before a game of anonymous secret-telling stirs the embers of a decade-old tragedy. A time when Dylan and Ava North stole a night of passion…and one of their friends died.

Then Ava stumbles upon a written confession of murder. Unable to trust anyone else, Ava and Dylan must confront the truth of that terrible night—and their hidden attraction for each other. Now their reunion has turned into a reckoning. They must find which of their friends is a killer…and fight for their lives and their love.

With an eerie and sinister atmosphere over the reunion weekend, the college friends come together to face the secrets of the past while stranded on a Texas ranch surrounded by the flood waters and no contact to the outside world.
This story stands out with its rare setup and plot, the dark and grim cloud hanging over the reunion, and the suicide of one of their own a decade ago that caused them all to drift apart. The story reminded me of the movie The Big Chill, and I have to say, it was well done in a smaller, more deadly, cruel, and bloody way.
The relationships are twisted, nothing is as it seems, the friends from college have moved on with their lives, and there is very little that holds them together anymore, very little that they share in life, except the toxic secrets they revealed in a twisted game they used to play.
Dylan Burkhart and Ava North fiery passion of their youth have left a mark on them that they have not forgotten over the decade. The first meeting is as awkward as one can imagine, yet there are feelings still simmering that could easily ignite given the chance.
A very intriguing and mesmerizing reunion mystery that had me glued to my Kindle. I could not put it down, I needed to know what, who, and why as the build-up kept getting bigger and more dangerous on each hour passed. Thus, the abrupt ending and halfway wrap up of both the case as well as the romance left me gasping for more. Yes, the culprit was found, but I would have loved to see it play a bit more in-depth towards the end, after such an intense, malignant crescendo.
Regardless, a potent, violent, and ardent, character-driven story that fascinated my mind and touched some deep, painful issues like a friend's suicide and the mental pressures of returning to civilian life after military service. A thrilling reading experience one has to experience, for sure!
~ Five Spoons

Published January 1st, 2018 by Harlequin Intrigue
Ebook edition $4,99

Amanda Stevens is the award-winning author of over fifty novels, including the modern gothic series, The Graveyard Queen. Her books have been described as eerie and atmospheric, “a new take on the classic ghost story.” Born and raised in the rural south, she now resides in Houston, Texas, where she enjoys binge-watching, bike riding and the occasional Horror Night with friends.