Our female lead, August, makes multiple references throughout this book that Tobias smells like cardamom, and I’m telling ya it’s like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately, my spice rack is lacking in this aphrodisiatic scent, so I have to ask, is it really all that intoxicating?
What’s it About?
In Austria to meet her great-grandfather and explore his castle estate filled with priceless art, August Myer arrives to find he’s died suspiciously. As one of the heirs, her life is in danger, turning this fairytale Alpine adventure into a nightmare of unexplained accidents, neo-Nazi threats, and murder.
Inspector Tobias Wolf splits his time between his profession and fighting the spread of neo-Nazism. But when the beautiful, intriguing American crosses his path during a murder investigation, ensuring her safety challenges his priorities…and his heart.
When August learns the handsome inspector’s involvement with a major female Nazi is more than he’s admitted, and the death of her great-grandfather is somehow connected, she takes the investigation into her own hands. The outcome could be the death of both of them.
First Impressions
Alright, so I’m not judging the book by its cover, believe me. I’m just making some observations. This novel revolves around an Austrian castle that’s at the center of a new Nazi uprising. In my small and uneducated opinion, if you’re going to put an Austrian castle on the cover, maybe use one that is situated in Austria? And maybe one that is a little less well-known than the infamous Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany? To be fair, I am slightly biased when it comes to this, having toured the castle myself, and being half German. Just a little observation, seeing as the cover is basically the most initial of first impressions we all have when picking up a book.
Damn Nazis
Frankly, I was hoping for a tad more intrigue when it came to the murderous Nazi plot. Which sounds really weird in retrospect, but let me explain. SPOILER ALERT: Basically, August’s great-grandfather was killed because his young wife, Eike, wanted to use Castle Luschin as the headquarters for the new Nazi movement in Austria.
Couldn’t Eike and her Nazi cohorts just like, pool their resources together and go buy a nice secluded villa somewhere in the Alps? I mean, they go to some extreme lengths and quite a few murder attempts, both successful and failed, for this pile of bricks. Although, these are Nazis we’re dealing with here, so I guess you can’t assume much reasoning would be involved when it comes to their line of thinking.
Backstory
Eike’s mission to revive the Nazi cause in Austria, and Tobias’s attempts to thwart her made for some very interesting subject matter, especially if you’re a history buff like me. That being said, I would have liked some more backstory surrounding both characters in order to get a really well-rounded view of their motives. In regards to Eike, yes her family took ownership of the castle during WWII, but is that the only reason she’s going to such great lengths to get it back? Why was she the one chosen to lead this Nazi movement?
Unnecessary Drama?
Now, I totally understand the need sometimes to have a sprig of tension pop up between our lovers to create suspense, but even I had to admit that it was a bit of a stretch in this novel. August comes across some old newspaper clippings online with photos of Tobias and Eike attending an event together. It’s all in German, which believe me is a hard ass language in and of itself, and all August can understand from the text are Tobias and Eike’s names.
She assumes through these photos that Tobias was lying all along about how well he knew Eike, that they had a long love affair which is why he isn’t arresting her, and August proceeds to cut off all communication from Tobias. She then goes off sleuthing at Castle Luschin all alone at night. Well…this can only end well! And all because she didn’t stop to get a German newspaper article translated, or ask Tobias about it directly! Hurensohn!
*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*
Series: The Love and Murder series, book 3. Probably a good idea to at least read book 1 before this one.
Should you read it? Something I really enjoyed in this book was that we got to see the various points of view of the different characters, from August and Tobias, to the villainous Eike. This really helped to follow along with the plot and some of the reasoning behind Eike’s murderous actions, but I still think some more backstory as to why she was so desperate to get this castle back in the first place would have benefited the overall flow of the story.
Smut Level: August and Tobias do have chemistry, and manage to get it on a few times in between the multiple attempts on her life. Will their relationship last forever? I highly doubt it seeing as they barely know each other, but he’s basically an Austrian James Bond. Enjoy it while you can!
Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. The Wild Rose Press, Inc. 251 Pages.
Romance Novels for the Beach 