Saving Sophie by Cate Beauman : A Review

BOOK TITLE: Saving Sophie

AUTHOR: Cate Beauman

ISBN/ASIN: B00MU82396

GENRE: Fiction / Romantic Suspense

NUMBER OF PAGES: 418

FORMAT: Digital / Kindle

SERIES / STANDALONE: The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series #7

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I thank the author for this review copy.

SUMMARY:

Jewelry designer Sophie Burke has fled Maine for the anonymity of the big city. She’s starting over with a job she tolerates and a grungy motel room she calls home on the wrong side of town, but anything is better than the nightmare she left behind.

Stone McCabe is Ethan Cooke Security’s brooding bad boy more interested in keeping to himself than anything else—until the gorgeous blond with haunted violet eyes catches his attention late one rainy night.

Stone reluctantly gives Sophie a hand only to quickly realize that the shy beauty with the soft voice and pretty smile has something to hide. Tangled up in her secrets, Stone offers Sophie a solution that has the potential to free her from her problems once and for all—or jeopardize both of their lives.

FIRST IMPRESSION:

First Impressions are moot points when you have read books from a series. You have an idea of some of the characters who are going to make an appearance and of course follow a pattern that emerges out of the other books in the series. Just three books old, and I am already finding out the major highlights the Bodyguards of LA County series would have. Not that it would make the book any less interesting.

The summary just about confirmed my suspicions and I settled down for a mild read filled with romantic suspense.

REVIEW:

Sophie is in an abusive relationship with Eric. She works up her courage and finally escapes him, having slipped him a sleeping dose. Morbid fear about him finding her out plagues her and she attains sanctuary in Ethan Cooke's wing - with Stone McCabe, one of his security agents. Brooding, silent Stone tries hard not to care about shy, jumpy Sophie until he sees the dilapidated conditions she is living in. Offering her a rental place in his home, he tries to get to know her more. The Sophie he sees is greatly different from the Sophie who comes out when she is relaxed. The book follows the frustrating line where they both could be the best solutions to each other's problems but don't talk about it.

Eric, suave, domineering, controlling freak who has a sadistic and abusive side, could not get over the fact that Sophie outsmarted him. She had run away from him, cheated his intelligence and had made it. While the villain is surely meant to have a frightening effect, what I get instead is a creepy feeling. He is not who he claims to be, and my frustration with Sophie grew as I realised what a nincompoop Eric actually was, in trying to be domineering and abusive, having belted her out. But accepting the fact that this was probably a representation of stories of thousands of women, I read through, trying not to roll my eyes and spit out at Eric - him being the representation of the very type of men I despise and who disgust me - creepy, controlling and abusive, thinking they can command over anyone.

I really liked the narration, where the author carefully brought out Sophie's hesitation and fear, the unshakeable feeling that even though she was miles away from him, Eric controlled her reactions and how she talked to other people around her. The romantic angle was very present while the suspense angle was not so obvious. While I have read other works from this author, with the suspense element taking a front seat, this was more of a romantic novel about a woman who had escaped an abusive relationship and finding her footing.

Strong characters, women coming out of their dark pasts to live a good life, men being heroic without meaning to, a typical Cate Beauman novel, the familiarity of it all was comforting. I am glad to read about old characters who made a reappearance and about a new protagonist who had been trying to come out an abusive relationship.

Romantic? Yes. Suspenseful? You could call it so.

WHAT I LIKED:

• The story overall was interesting enough to read in one sitting
• The familiarity of a Cate Beauman novel
• The thrilling first chapter

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:

• The villain - though realistic, just didn't cut it for me
• The story leaned more towards the romantic than the suspense element.

VERDICT:

A good story, interesting in many parts.

RATING: 4/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers Touch Award, and have been named Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015, JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers' Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards. 

Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on Deceiving Bella, the eleventh novel in her popular bodyguards series. 

For information on Cate's new releases, monthly giveaways, and upcoming events, sign up for her newsletter at: http://www.catebeauman.com/author/home.html#!newsletter-sign-up/c9td 

 Cate can be reached at www.catebeauman.com and www.facebook.com/catebeauman.

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback, Kindle

PRICE $3.81 for Kindle, $14.41 for Paperback

BOOK LINKS: Amazon