Seaside Surprises by Stacy Claflin started fine as a "woman in peril" contemporary romance. This is a 'sweet romance', so no sex. But the further it went, the further it seems to go off the rails. The ending fight was a total let down when the bad guy arrived. But first, the recap.
Tiffany Saunders is on the run from her evil husband, and with her well-connected grandpa's help, she left town leaving no traces except for one phone that links to grandpa. She was just passing by this seaside town in California when she met the handsome local shop owner Jake Hunter. Jake had spent years caring for his little sister, who finally succumbed to cancer. Now he's still running the family store, but he wanted his life back. When the pretty brunette who's obviously hiding something walked into his store, he found himself drawn to her. But just as they got to know each other, Tiffany's past caught up with her. Will Tiffany and Jake let down their guard long enough to confront the danger together?While the first half of the book was quite good as Jake and Tiffany slowly circled each other, neither wanted to commit, yet drawn to each other, the escalation of tension really makes no sense. The evil ex was portrayed as nasty but never described as violent.
WARNING
SPOILER
AHEAD
About mid-way through the book, when grandpa dropped off the radar and was found the be unconscious and sent to the hospital, there goes the first TSTL (too stupid to live) moment. It's OBVIOUS this is some sort of trap by her ex to force her to return so he can pick up her trail. Yet she immediately demands that someone arrange for her to fly back (with her FAKE name?!) Then it was revealed that grandpa was "poisoned" (since when do men poison people?) When grandpa finally woke up, it took the entire family several minutes to find pen and paper. THEN they realize he wanted Tiffany OUT OF HERE. Duh.
So anyway, Tiffany went back to the small town amidst much protest and bodyguards, which just means she was tailed to the beach where she met up with Jake, and evil ex Trent followed her (duh). It's really hilarious when Tiffany twisted her ankle and Jake decided to carry her while trying to outrun her evil ex who tracked them to the beach. The end fight was really stupid and seems to be consist of two girls fighting rather than two guys swinging fists. It ended with "magically perceptive cops" who somehow knew who to arrest. Argh.
Category: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Primary Plot: Strong Protector / Woman on the Run
TL;DR: Romance is okay, suspense is problematic with a lame end fight and logic problems
Tropes: small town, woman in peril, protector
Overall rating: 3/5
