Colton's Lethal Reunion

The Coltons of Mustang Valley #2

by Tara Taylor Quinn

Long ago, he broke her heart.
Now he’d do anything to save her life.

Rafe Colton and Kerry Wilder were inseparable as kids—until Rafe cut Kerry out of his life without explanation. Now a detective, Kerry unexpectedly crosses paths with Rafe again while investigating a deadly shooting. When Rafe discovers she’s also investigating a cold case that puts her in harm’s way, he vows to work overtime to protect her. But can Rafe redeem his betrayal…and keep her safe?

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 12, 2019

About the author

Tara Taylor Quinn began her love affair with Harlequin when she was fourteen years old and picked up a free promotional copy of a Harlequin Romance in a hometown grocery store. The relationship was solidified the year she was suspended from her high school typing class for hiding a Harlequin Romance behind the keys of her electric typewriter. Unaware that her instructor loomed close by, Ms. Quinn read blissfully on with one finger resting on the automatic repeating period key. She finished the book in the principal’s office. Forced to leave her romances in her locker after that, Ms. Quinn’s typing skills improved - a fact for which she is eternally grateful.

With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”

Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.

Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.

When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..

Reviews

[Kelsie Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colton’s Lethal Reunion by Tara Taylor Quinn is book two in the Coltons of Mustang Valley series. This series of novels, written by various authors, features the Colton Family of Mustang Valley, Arizona.

Rafe Colton is the Chief Financial Officer of his family’s oil business. He and local detective, Kerry Wilder, were the closest of playmates as children and carried their closeness into their teen years. Rafe left Kerry and their relationship behind with no warning or explanation. Now, Kerry’s latest case has placed her in danger and Rafe is back and determined to protect her, in spite of herself.

Colton’s Lethal Reunion is an entertaining read. The characters are fully-developed and rational. The plot has enough twists to hold the reader’s attention, though it lags a bit in the middle, it picks up the pace before the satisfactory ending. The romance is completely believable and enhances, but doesn’t overpower, the story. The author smartly maintains the continuity of the series without forfeiting the uniqueness of this novel. I deducted one star for the lag in the middle and give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys romantic suspense.

My thanks to HARLEQUIN – Romance (US & Canada) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

[shms · Rating 1 out of 5]

I took to skimming this about a quarter way else it was going to be a dnf. The police work aside (all the bits I skimmed) the premise of this was ridiculous and by the end infuriating. They're both 36, haven't met since they were 13 and it was all about their strong love for each other. Separated 13 to 36, that's a bit much and difficult to swallow. She'd put herself where he could contact her, yet he never did. The H, he said it himself, was weak and selfish seemed to just be glossed over. He really was a coward. He would never have come to her had circumstances hadn't forced him.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't buy this grand love. Rafe was exactly what he called himself. Weak and selfish. I understand his actions and motivation as a child but he doesn't come to terms with any of it for 23 years. His reasoning as an adult makes no sense. He's a 36 year old man. I liked Kerry but she deserved better than this lackluster hero.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

This is the second book in the Colton’s of Mustang Valley romantic suspense series by Tara Taylor Quinn.

Rafe Colton and Kerry Wilder have a past that goes back to when they were kids. Rafe didn’t start out a Colton but was brought into the Colton family after the death of his father. He separated ways with Kerry in order to save her from something he wouldn’t be able to protect her from. All she saw was that at thirteen he had left her without a word. Now Kerry is a detective working on the cold case involving the death of her brother in her free time and a deadly shooting during the day.

Rafe is all polish and spit-shine as the CFO of Colton Industries, nothing at all like the scrappy kid he used to be. They haven’t seen each other since they were thirteen years old but her underlying feelings for him never changed. However, she isn’t letting herself fall all the way in love with him. He seems ready to embrace her back into his world but she dodges him at every turn. Gratefully, fate keeps bringing them together in order to deal with long lost feelings.

The build up of this is really nice. They try to work each other out of their system in the beginning by having sex and that only proves to light a spark that cannot be extinguished. Rookie mistake. The landscape of characters is rich and vibrant as is the setting, I am totally gaga over the Colton universe and plan to read them all at some point in 2020. I am just getting a jump on a couple of them right now.

As I read along, I wanted to shake some sense into Kerry during much of this. She kept talking herself out of a relationship with Rafe when all the signs with him were pointing to YES, YES, YES! He’s yours. Take the plunge, girl! I am glad she didn’t have too much time to overthink things because I could see her royally screwing this entire relationship up for no reason at all.

If you love a good romantic suspense book, check this one out and decide for yourself. This is a great standalone in the Colton universe and a great read for January 2020!

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

[Storied Conversation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rafe wasn't born a Colton. He was adopted by them after father had passed away. Rafe and Kerry had been childhood friends all the way til their teens. That is when he suddenly left for no apparent reason. He had a reason, a good one that does get explained.

Now as adults Rafe is the CFO of Colton Industries and Kerry is a detective. They haven't seen one another since they were thirteen years old. However, those first love feelings have never went away either. Kerry is convinced that her brother didn't commit suicide but rather was murdered and with Rafe's help she sets out to prove it.

I will say there were times I honestly didn't like either character because they seemed so stubborn. I could understand Rafe's reason for leaving Kerry as a teen and maybe even up until adulthood but I felt that maybe he should have confronted her or something to deal with it as an adult.

Kerry is just as bad, she loves him and wants a relationship with him but it feels at times as though she is trying to prove something. Whether that is to Rafe or herself I'm not sure of. They come together beautifully and the suspense is great. One thing is certain this book made me dislike Payne Colton even more.

He is of course, still in a comma. In this book I was a little thrilled he was because I wanted to punch him for some of his stuff years ago. We still haven't discovered who shot him but that is the secondary mystery in this book. The main one is what happened to Kerry's brother. All in all I liked this story line and was more than thrilled when Rafe and Kerry pulled their heads out of their butts.This review was originally posted on Wickedly Romance

[Paula Legate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book series so far. It’s the second book in the Colton’s of Mustang Valley series. Each book is written by a different author. Book one was amazing, so after I got done, I bought this one. I liked it, but to me it wasn’t as great as book one was. With that being said, I will still read the next book. Both have ended with a cliffhanger, so now that I’ve started, I’ll have to finish the series. This was a second chance romance with action and suspense. Rafe Colton and Kerry Wilder were best friends as little kids. Kerry didn’t know why, but Rafe stopped being her friend. Kerry also lost everyone that was important to her. She is an independent lady, who is a excellent Police officer. Her brother died, and in her heart she has always believed he was murdered. Rafe helps Kerry find out who was behind her brother’s death. She also finds out why Rafe stopped being her friend many years ago. This book has suspense, action, and romance. It really was a good book. Just not a 5 star.

[Lynn Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 STARS!

The intrigue intensifies! With the second book in the exciting new Coltons of Mustang Valley series, Tara Taylor Quinn picks up the story with adopted brother Rafe when his childhood friend becomes the detective working his father's shooting in COLTON'S LETHAL REUNION. The characters are well developed and the plot is fast paced.

Rafe Colton was fairly unseen in the first book in the series, but we learn his past fairly quickly when the woman he walked away from re-enters his life in a boisterous way. He's easy to like, and more laid back than the rest of the family.

Kerry Wilder knew working the Colton case would have her facing old ghosts, she just didn't realize it would slap her in the face quite as much as it did. She's determined to find out what happened to her brother two years ago and she can't let anything derail that plan ... even her childhood love.

I recommend this book and the entire series to anyone looking for an ongoing mystery filed with lots of family drama and happily ever afters.

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the Coltons of Mustang Valley series, in which Rafe Colton, CFO of Colton Oil and detective Kerry Wilder encounter each other after a 23-year separation. They'd been best friends as children, broken up by Rafe's adopted father when they were 13, but she doesn't know why and he's never shared that information with her.

Now she's trying to prove that her brother's death 2 years earlier was murder and he's intent on finding out who shot his father and left him in a coma. Then when it's clear that both Rafe and Kerry are in danger, he insists on helping her solve her brother's murder.

But the closer they come to finding out the truth, the greater the danger they are in, and this is made even more clear when a woman is shot to death on Kerry's front lawn after implicating the man Kerry is certain is responsible for her brother's death. But how can she prove it and will she be able to do so with Rafe or her being killed in the process?

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rafe and Kerry grew up together and were pretty tight until he up and split. Now Rafe is back and Kerry is a detective investigating a shooting. The deeper they get into the case the more its clear someone doesn't want her to get closer to whats being hidden.

For those of you just coming across this, this book is book two to a series but it can be read as a standalone. I read and enjoyed the previous book featuring another Colton family member and can see the connection between the two. I really do believe that you should check this and the previous one because it makes it that much more of an enjoyable experience. If you love a good mystery with a bit of romance you'll love this book. I liked getting to know the characters and their backstories and just seeing how everything unfolded. Theres family drama, mystery, and suspense and your not gonna wanna miss it.

[Margaret Yelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my fair and honest review.

I found this book to be well written a quick and easy read, having said that for me it just didn't grab me like I like for a book to do. Overall I would give this book about a 3.5 stars. I would suggest others read and make your own opinions because everyone doesn't enjoy the same books.

[CR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another one that was really cute and quick. I really enjoyed the change in author from book one to this one and I need to see if I can get my hands on the next titles in the series. I loved everything about this book and kind of wished it was little longer. This was such a great story!!

[Book Him Danno · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will start off with its ok. The characters lack any real human quality that readers will be able to connect with and fall flat many times though out the story. There is more sex than story and at one point reader might question why they are reading the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy

[Harlequin Books]

Categories
Contemporary Romance, Suspense, Thriller, Romantic Suspense
Miniseries
The Coltons of Mustang Valley (Book #2)

[Nibrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story about childhood friends separated and reunited. Interesting hints about the overall plot line, but didn't add much to the family dynamics.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series uses a different author for each book and some authors are better than others. Which I find unfair to the reader. You already have a series with no answers in sight and then you add different authors on top of that. Although this was an okay author the first author was better.
This series goes on for twelve books and I'm pretty sure I won't be reading them. It's like a serial on TV with a mystery or two in the background but they take care of the current problem in the book. They barely touch on the overall mysteries. Very annoying and a definite marketing device to sell all the books. Well it worked on me however I won't be reading them I will give them away to some one else who is interested in long drawn out serials. It's a Soap Opera in book form. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!
I will say that I enjoy recurring characters in books but not unsolved problems that go to the next book and sometimes even further than that.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received an ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley