Ranch Showdown by Tina Wheeler

This fast-moving romantic suspense is about justice and the redemption of a relationship. I am amused by the series title. Love Inspired Suspense. Not in this case. The suspense is due to greed and criminal behavior. But there was inspiration romance.

The book takes place in about forty-eight hours in the town of Sedona, AZ. Sierra Lowrey comes home to find a man in her house. It’s her sister’s ex-boyfriend. And he’s looking for something that is critical to his staying out of prison. He believes that something is hidden in Sierra’s house. He has a nefarious past and gives Sierra forty-eight hours to find and turn over what he’s looking for. Not a spoiler. This is the first five pages.

Enter police detective Cole Walker. You guessed it. Sierra and Cole had a past, but it didn’t work. The romance part of this romantic suspense is second chance romance. Cole and Sierra try to find the missing item and capture the bad guy. Well, Cole focuses on capturing the bad guy. And determine if their romance can be rekindled.

Plenty of action. And of course, the romance. The story moves fast. The bad guy keeps winning. The situation looks hopeless. But of course, you can guess the ending. I’m not a huge fan of romance novels, but this one kept the romance in check and there weren’t that many times where it seemed out of place. I’d read more romantic suspense with this balance.

This novel is a Christian novel so it’s clean. No profanity. No sex and the violence is necessary and not gratuitous. Another great example of a heart-pounding thriller that doesn’t need eight hundred f-bombs.

It’s a fun read and if you like romantic suspense where there’s more suspense than romance, this would be a read for you. I’ll rank this one number six so far. But the differences between numbers one through seven are thin margins.

1. Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. Hunt
2. The Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron Ross
3. Justice by Jeff Hill
4. Already in the Kudzu by Hannah Hood Lucero
5. The Misadventures of Itchy Izzy by N.Y. Dunlap
6. Ranch Showdown by Tina Wheeler
7. The Shocking Truth by Steve Rush
8. Daughter of Darkness by Ed Gorman
9. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson

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