What I'm Reading Wednesday

This week's review is Hurricane Crimes by Chrys Fey.

Blurb:  After her car breaks down, Beth Kennedy is forced to stay in Florida, the target of Hurricane Sabrina. She stocks up supplies, boards up windows, and hunkers down to wait out the storm, but her plan unravels when she witnesses a car accident. Risking her life, she braves the winds to save the driver. Just when she believes they are safe, she finds out the man she saved could possibly be more dangerous than the severe weather.

Donovan Goldwyn only wanted to hide from the police, but the hurricane shoved his car into a tree. Now he's trapped with a beautiful woman while the evidence that can prove his innocence to a brutal crime is out there for anyone to find.

As Hurricane Sabrina wreaks havoc, Beth has no other choice but to trust Donovan to stay alive. But will she survive, or will she become another hurricane crime?

Review:  Before I start the review, I want to point out this is a novella, approximately 50 pages long. I point this out because some readers buy a work and don't realize that it's of short length and then give a terrible review because they didn't realize it was not a full-length novel.

The author did an amazing job of depicting a hurricane. Having never lived through one (thankfully), I would have had no real reference to draw from if the author had glossed over the fury and strength of a hurricane. That wasn't necessary, because the scenes were written so well, I felt the power of the wind, heard it battering the house, saw the aftermath as though I was there.

I liked Beth Kennedy immensely. She was strong and feisty and did what needed to be done, no matter how scared she was. I admired her most for her bravery. I don't know if I would have gone out during a raging hurricane to help an accident victim. I hope I would but until one is in the situation, it's hard to say how you'd react.

I liked Donovan Goldwyn as well. He's a little harder to get a feel for as the story is predominately written in Beth's point of view. This isn't a negative, just that we didn't get to know his thoughts and feelings like we did Beth's.

The author does a wonderful job handling who and what Donovan might be as well as making the explanation believable. Sorry if this seems convoluted, but I don't want to give away any spoilers. She handles the chemistry between Beth and Donovan with a deft hand within the length of the story.

There were a couple of things that kept me from giving this 5 stars. There were a couple of occasions of strange phrasing such as referring to tears as salt drops. Also, I'm a stickler for point of view and there were a few places where there were issues with it. Most non-writers probably wouldn't notice these, but they stuck out for me.

That being said, I wish Hurricane Crimes was longer because I enjoyed Beth and Donovan's story and wanted to spend a bit more time with them.

Rating: 4 Stars