The Ringer

by Amber Malloy

Lane Garret is a dead ringer...

Newly single, cheaters decoy Lane Garret is excited about her fresh start and believes everything is at last on track. Unfortunately, her fantasy of the good life is blown away…along with one of her marks. While on a date, Lane not just witnesses a murder but almost becomes a victim. Saved in the nick of time by one hot detective, she wonders if someone wants her dead.

On forced leave due to a pending Internal Affairs investigation, Jackson (Jax) Thornbird agrees to do a friend a favor. Tricked into decoy security, Jax decides one night will be easy enough, but things go awry. When shots are fired, he grabs the girl and leaves the scene of the crime—a rash decision that could ruin his career. However, Jax has a hunch the intended target wasn’t the dead, cheating husband.

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 23, 2014

About the author

Amber Malloy dreamed of being a double agent but couldn't pass the psyche evaluation. Crushed by despair that she couldn't legally shoot things, Amber pursued her second career choice as pastry chef. When she's not writing or whipping up a mean Snickers Cheesecake, she occasionally spies on her sommelier. Amber is convinced he's faking his French accent.

Reviews

[ysar · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really disappointed. I had it in my head that this was going to be such a fun read, and I was really excited when I received my copy. But in the end, I just couldn't make myself finish reading it. It started off great, with the crazy action promised in the synopsis happening right away. It was exciting, a bit scary, and certainly entertaining, but for me, it was all downhill from there.
Right around the time Lane calmed down after her brush with death, the story got…strange, I guess. There was clearly a conspiracy of some kind going on, but it was more confusing than mysterious, and it seemed that just about everyone Lane and Jax ran into was aware of it to some degree. And when I say everyone, I mean I was almost surprised a McDonald's drive-thru worker didn't whisper a clue or pass a note to them at some point.

And then there was the lust/love. These two were attracted to each other from the get-go, and that much was believable. But after just a couple of days (was it even that long?) and some heated encounters, Lane was already thinking she was falling in love. The problem for me is that it seemed nothing emotional had even happened yet. Sure, Jax was being protective, and Lane waited around for him at that private airport, but I didn't detect an emotional connection at all. I could have gone along with it if he'd been incredibly sweet or if it seemed like they were both feeling…well, feeling anything at all aside from lust, but I didn't get that at all from them. It was disconcerting.

Normally I'm all about romance stories, and I do love a good, crazy suspense bit thrown in. But The Ringer felt like it missed both of those boats. I couldn't connect with the characters at all, and I didn't even feel like they connected with each other. The plot twisted around so much that I just got confused and ended up not the least bit interested in finding out why Jax and Lane were targets. The story idea was so promising, but for me, it just wasn't executed well. I was determined to finish it, thinking surely I'd missed something, and it would pull me in soon, but when my Kindle said I had about an hour left of reading to finish it, and three hours later — when I still wasn't finished because I kept getting bored and putting it down – I figured it was time to throw in the towel.

***FicCentral received this book from Bewitching Book Tours for free in exchange for an honest review. Even so, we're far too opinionated to let a freebie influence our thoughts or the contents of the reviews we post here.

[Belinda Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a 1/2 stars

This is a romantic suspense with a real crime genre feel to it. So much so, that it took me the first few chapters to get into the writing style and language. The character of Lane grabs you early on for her unique blend of sassy individuality. Likewise, Jackson (Jax) has the whole hot, tough-guy detective vibe to get you interested. Thrown together when a cheaters decoy assignment for Lane goes wrong, Jax and Lane’s relationship sizzles on the page.

The plot has a good amount of tension to keep things moving forward, although there were times when this was diminished by the feeling of jumping around. The same too for the sub-plots: they were clever and interesting but sometimes felt as though they got in the way of the tension. Despite this, it was a well thought out story line with some great twists that I genuinely didn’t see coming.

This isn’t a romance read for those who are looking for something sweet (although the love between Jax and Lane is heartfelt). There’s a dark grit to this novel, reminiscent of crime thrillers, so I’d suggest it’s a great read for those who want some romance with their crime.

*I was given a copy of this book in return for an honest review. www.belindawilliamsbooks.com

[Edie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The romance is a cute simmer but the mystery is red hot.

[Sweetart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mystery that makes you want to see through to the very end!