Title:  Hour of Need
Series:  Scarlet Falls #1
Author:  Melinda Leigh
Genre:  Mystery, Thriller, Romance
Published:  December 9, 2014
Publisher:  Montlake Romance
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  Owned, Kindle edition
Cover Description:

While fighting in Afghanistan, Major Grant Barrett receives devastating news: his brother and sister-in-law have been murdered in Scarlet Falls, the sleepy suburb of Grant’s youth. Emotionally scarred from war, the career soldier returns home on emergency leave to temporarily care for his orphaned nephew and niece. But when someone tries to kidnap the kids and their teenage babysitter, Grant knows it’s not a random act…and neither were the murders.

Already devastated by her neighbors’ violent deaths, Ellie Ross is shattered by the attempted abduction of her teenage daughter so she desperately turns to Grant for help. As they navigate a deadly search for the truth, they struggle with growing feelings for each other and Grant’s impending return to deployment.

But time is running out. The killer is growing bolder by the hour, and Ellie and Grant must find him before the children become his next victims.

Read on for my thoughts on Hour of Need.  No true spoilers, promise.

Hour of Need is a fast paced, involved, intriguing romantic suspense roller coaster.  Since the basic summary of the novel is in the cover description, I don’t intend to give out much more than you’d get from picking up this novel online or in a store.  It’s a mystery, suspense so I simply cannot give away anything that would take away from your enjoyment of solving this mystery for yourself as you read.

Grant and Ellie are thrust into chaos when Grant’s brother, Lee and his wife, Katie were murdered.  Now between trying to adjust to their deaths and figuring out the mystery that surrounds their deaths, Ellie and Grant are fighting their attraction to each other.

There are so many secrets in the town of Scarlet Falls, and someone is working very hard to keep those secrets from being exposed.

Hour of Need pulled me in and kept me turning pages until the end.  The romance was not the main focus, but the attraction between Grant and Ellie worked so well within the mystery and suspense.  If you enjoy trying to figure out “why” then you will enjoy Hour of Need.  I would recommend this novel for any mystery or suspense reader who enjoys a touch of romance as well.  Definitely worth the bitten down fingernails.

*Any review is just one person’s opinion. You might feel the same or totally different. The only way to know for certain is for you to read it. This was my opinion of this particular book.*

Hour of Need is available for the Kindle and the Kindle Unlimited on this date