Book Review: Sudden Engagement by Julie Miller

Sudden Engagement by Julie Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back Cover: With blazing blue eyes and beckoning broad shoulders, Brett Taylor was irresistible to most women. But Detective Ginny Rafferty wasn't about to succumb to his potent charm. The lady cop had learned early about love and betrayal, and buried her feelings beneath her badge. So the last thing she wanted was to pose as the brawny neighborhood hero's adoring fiancée, especially since she went weak in the knees every time he came too close. However, they had each lost a loved one to the killer they hunted, and Ginny needed Brett's connections to catch the perpetrator. Except she knew better than anyone that this sudden engagement could endanger her heart--and her life. But some things were worth the risk.

First, I need to comment on Ms. Miller’s allusion to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, a short story about a man who’s insulted by a friend and seeks revenge by getting said friend drunk and sealing him alive in a brick tomb. When I read this back in high school, the idea of being buried alive totally freaked me out and the tickling of the bells belonging to the dead man brought on many nightmares. That’s why I almost didn’t make it through this story but I’m really glad I did. The suspense builds throughout the story and even though the suspects are named early, the mystery remains until the end.

Ginny Rafferty and Brett Taylor were introduced in the last book, “One Good Man”. Ginny is a police detective and unlike many romantic suspense stories where the female cop is a kick-butt, take-names type female, Ginny actually struggles in her position. Her short stature makes it difficult for her to be taken serious and she’s developed a chip on her shoulder as a result. That chip makes it hard for Brett to get close.

Brett is the typical Alpha male of romance fiction, wanting to save the damsel in distress but I get the impression throughout the story it’s more from his upbringing than the need to be superior. His old fashion ideas are frustrating at times but still somewhat amusing, like trying to shield Ginny from seeing the dead body at the beginning. She’s a cop. A detective. I can’t remember how long she’s been on the force but I assume in a city the size of Kansas City she’s seen a dead body or two.

Unlike his cousin (and most of his siblings) Brett isn’t in law enforcement. Instead, his construction company works on restoring old buildings in the neighborhood he grow up in. he’s already rehabbed several building on the block where the Ludlow Arms is located. When he was younger, his best friend lived (and died) in this building but while he wants to renovate it, the state of deterioration is too much and he’s forced to demolish the building. But not before a dead body is found in the basement.

Since his best friend’s abusive father disappeared around the time Brett found his best friend beaten to death in the building’s basement, it’s quickly assumed (and later confirmed) it’s the missing man. For a while, I guess, Brett could have been considered a suspect since he felt responsible for his best friend’s death. He was supposed to meet his best friend the night he died to try to talk him out of eloping, but he had too much to drink, lost track of time, and didn’t make it.

Though he suspected his best friend’s father, Brett never found what happened the night his best friend died. Now that the father was found buried alive in the basement wall of the building and appeared to have died around the same time as his best friend, Brett has more questions.

That’s where Ginny comes in. Spurred on by her sister’s unexplained murder years ago, she’s driven to find out who left this man in the wall to die. What she doesn’t expect is to discover a connection between this murder and her sister’s. Since the neighborhood is distrustful of outsiders, Ginny must rely on Brett to connect the dots. A quickie (fake) engagement between the two of them gives her the inside track she needs.

While I generally find fake engagements in romance to be a tired plot device, I found Ms. Miller used this extremely well in the story. If you excuse everyone’s almost immediate acceptance of these two characters sudden engagement, the interaction between the two of them as an ‘engaged couple’ to be highly enjoyable.

The climatic conclusion of the story was breathtaking and satisfying. I really enjoyed that Ms. Miller allowed Ginny to actually show her strength by outsmarting and physically subduing the murderer in the end without any help. I do wish she wouldn’t have allowed Ginny to turn into a quivering and clinging shield once Brett showed up but it was brief so I’ll forgive it.

Overall, a fabulous story and well worth the read.


View all my reviews