By Lisa Jackson
Twisted Sisters? Oh, you don’t even know! There are tons of things going on in this third book about the Cahill family. “You Betrayed Me” is my first venture into the series, so it’s safe to say that even though this is part of a series, it was also suitable as a stand-alone book.
James Cahill, a scorchingly-hot, low-cut-jeans and Stetson-wearing cowboy type – whom I might also mention stands to inherit tons of money, runs a construction company, hotel, restaurant, and Christmas tree farm in a small town in Washington. He’s also a womanizer, cheater, and kind of a jerk.
James has a problem. With women. Too many of them. Way too many. This problem keeps him on the edge of trouble throughout the book. The book is full of non-trustworthy people, lots of them. The story opens with James in the hospital and without his memory. His soon-to-be ex-girlfriend is missing. As an obvious suspect to her disappearance, James’ road to plausible deniability is compromised because he is smack-dab in the middle of a new relationship with Sophia before breaking it off with Megan. Megan was pissed; James is in the hospital, now Megan is missing.
The book starts at a slow pace. The plot got a lot twistier and moved a lot faster once I got to the middle of the book, where the story takes off. There are so many nasty guys and girls, more than one crime, and the author keeps you guessing whodunit or who didn’t do it to the end of the book.
My opinion: Stronger character storylines could have made this book even better.
There is an investigator on the case who has a weirdly interesting way to solve crimes. He’s a kleptomaniac, secretly taking a personal item or two from the people he is interviewing. As he holds these items, he has “visions” of what was happening when said people used those particular personal items to help him solve the crime. While using this “skill ”to convey information to the reader, I would have enjoyed seeing a cool side story about why he had this unique talent, like “as a young boy, he discovered a hidden cave in the woods behind his grandparent’s ranch. Just as he stuck his head inside, a loose stone fell from the roof of the cave, knocking him out. When he awoke in the hospital, he discovered that he could “see” things about a person by simply holding one of their personal items. This skill led him into a life-long career in crime-solving.” That example might not justify the term “cool” – but you get the idea.
The author mentions Willow a couple of times, without much detail, then arbitrarily, we find her in James Cahill’s bed, having a fantasy sexual encounter with “imaginary” James. What the heck? That came out of nowhere. I needed a pre-dinner cocktail, a menu, an appetizer, and salad before jumping into the main course like that.
You are probably wondering why I said “twisted sisters” at the very beginning. You will have to read the book to find out, but I will tell you, you will find many back-stabby, angry women in this book.
I would like to thank Lisa Jackson, Kensington Books, and Goodreads for the copy I received as a contest giveaway winner!
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