Blog Tour: A Familiar Fear by Kathi Oram Peterson

Reviews * Giveaway

A Familiar Fear by Kathi Oram Peterson

Book Description:

Ex-FBI agent Riley Scott lives each day with the scars of her former career. After the murder of her husband and the recent attempt on her own life by the Russian mafia, her heart is irrevocably broken. Agate Island seems like the perfect place to begin building a new future for herself and her teenage son, yet even before the ferry docks at their new home, Riley realizes there will be no escape for her. There, on the boat, is mafia boss Maksimillian Petruso—the man who took everything from her. The man she killed.

Matthew Taggart knows who Riley is and understands her reaction to his resemblance to Maksimillian Petruso. But Matthew is nothing like his estranged criminal father. So far, he has been able to hide from that evil world. However, he's afraid Riley's appearance on the island may lead his family's mafia connections to his doorstep. After all, she is the agent who took down his father. Matthew needs to leave town. Fast. Unfortunately, when the family wants to find him, there is nowhere he can hide. Now he and Riley are thrown together in a dangerous connection, and learning to trust each other is their only hope of survival.

Rorie's Review:

This story took me by surprise by starting out as fast as it did. From the description, I thought that Riley would run into Matthew somewhere on the island, and basically be playing hide and seek with him (hide and avoid would be a better description, I guess) for several chapters before the intensity started. Not so. The author jumps right in to it, and things don't slow down until...well, at all.

My heart ached for Riley and her rocky relationship with her son. I could see both points of view, but tended to side with her more, probably because I'm an adult and can process the difficult situation that she was put into. Not only is she dealing with family issues, but she also has to go on the run with someone she doesn't even know if she can trust.

Both Riley and Matthew's best friends won me over quickly. They were both strong characters in their own right, and completely devoted to helping protect their friends, even risking their own lives to do so.

The only part that bugged me about the book was the kiss. To be fair, I always feel this way, whether it happens in a movie or a story. If you're in the middle of a battle, or literally running for your lives - you could die at any moment - it just doesn't feel like the time to be kissing. Maybe I'm just not all that romantic, but I've always rolled my eyes when that happens. Just wait til you're safe and then kiss away!

Other than that, I enjoyed the book. It kept me guessing til the end and had good, strong characters.

Tarah's Review:

This book definitely jumped into the action right away. It took me along for the ride, and I stayed with it the whole time. When I first got the book in the mail my first thought about the cover was, "Whoa! That's kind of a freaky cover!" It made me a little hesitant because I don't like scary stories. Suspense, yes. Scary, no. It's a great cover though. Kudo's to the designer there.  Oh, and no worries about it being a scary/horror story. Suspense, yes. Lot's of that with all the twists and turns in this story. Speaking of that, these characters just couldn't catch a break, with one thing happening and then another. Maybe that's why I didn't really connect to any of the characters. They were good characters, but not really something I related to, or meshed with. This story also had a sort of soap opera element to it, especially towards the end when we learn more back story and the who's and why's. I was kind of hoping it would have gone in a different direction, but everything fit, and everything flowed.

Tour Dates:

Feb. 12^th: https://www.rockinbookreviews.com/, http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/, https://brightlystreet.com/

Feb. 13^th: http://empowermoms.net/, https://www.singinglibrarianbooks.com/

Feb. 14^th: http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/, http://booksaresanity.blogspot.com/, http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot.com/

Feb. 15^th: http://gettingyourreadonaimeebrown.blogspot.com/, http://mybookaday.blogspot.com/, https://ldsandlovinit.blogspot.com/

Feb. 16^th: http://bonnieharris.blogspot.com/, http://literarytimeout.blogspot.com/

Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Title: A Familiar Fear
Author: Kathi Oram Peterson
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Published: February 2018
ISBN: 1524403946
Source: We received copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase: Amazon | Deseret Book