Have You Seen Her?

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Special Agent Steven Thatcher is in charge of finding the sadistic serial killer who is luring teen cheerleaders out of their beds at night, abducting them, sexually assaulting them, shaving their heads then finally killing them and displaying their bodies in a wooded clearing. The romance is compelling mostly due to the amazing chemistry between Steven and Jenna. This makes their relationship believable despite the relatively short time span. Given his history, Steven is an extremely vulnerable hero, which may explain his trust issues and reservations where it comes to accepting Jenna wholeheartedly. Nevertheless, his jealousy can be annoying at times. Jenna is my favorite type of heroine, caring and sympathetic but also holds her own against hesitant policemen and diabolical serial killers. The romance between Caroline and Max is hot, but it’s also very complicated. Understandably, after being a living, human Raggedy-Ann doll for her ex-husband to punch and push around, Caroline is not exactly trusting of the male sex. Neither is her son, Tom (whom you’ll just want to wrap in a blanket and protect forever because he’s so precious.) Max does a pretty good job breaking down the barriers, but there are several misunderstandings that make this for a very dramatic and sometimes even occasionally problematic romance.

Caroline Stewart (aka Mary Grace Winters) is one of the strongest heroines I have ever read, but also one of the most tortured. She was about as beaten down as a woman could possibly get, both physically and emotionally, after enduring years of abuse at the hands of her barbaric cop husband. The courage and determination she showed in getting herself well enough to leave him, and then faking her and her son's deaths to start a new life in secret, was absolutely inspiring. Once she was away from the people who tore her down (namely her husband), that innate strength grew and blossomed into something utterly beautiful. She was a fabulous mother too, with an extraordinary love for her son, Tom. What I loved and admired most about Caroline though, is that after all the years of torment she suffered, she still hadn't lost her sense of humor and perhaps more importantly, she hadn't given up on the notion of someday finding someone who would love her in the way she so richly deserved. Of course, her patience and persistence was rewarded with all that and more when she met Max. Karen Rose has masterfully written a riveting story involving domestic violence and the triumph of the human spirit. Caroline isn't the only one in the story to rise above her circumstances. Max is recovering from a life altering and devastating accident from twelve years ago. Dana, Caroline's best friend and manager of a women's shelter, came out of an abusive marriage. The lead investigator, Steven Thatcher, is raising three sons on his own following the death of his wife. All are involved in the culmination of the confrontation with Rob. Investigating the horrific murder of a teenage cheerleader and coping with his traumatized 7 year old, Special Agent Steven Thatcher has his hands full. But things can always get worse and they do when another dead girl is found and Steven's eldest son, Brad, starts failing in school. Brad's teacher, Jenna Marshall reaches out to help, and she and Steven realize they have more in common than their concern for Brad. As they grow closer, however, so does the killer who seems to have turned his sights on Jenna.The killer is slowly building up his confidence and starts taunting detective Thatcher trying to prove he is smarter than them and unstoppable. This was the second book by Ms. Rose I read, after Don't Tell inspired me to acquire the entire "series" of her books. Gabe Hebert saw the toll that working for the NOPD took on his dad and decided instead to make a name for himself as one of the best young chefs in the French Quarter. But when his father’s death is ruled a suicide after a deliberately botched investigation by his former captain, Gabe knows his dad stumbled onto a truth that someone wants silenced. These two are surrounded by secondary and ancillary characters that could be neighbors and friends, they're so realistic, and Steven's boys are particularly endearing - especially Matt. They all round out and embellish a twisted, intricate plot of death and deception that is told with Rose's impeccable style and timing. The mystery was dual pronged and nicely layered, and while the perpetrator of the slaughter of innocent girls maybe isn't the hardest thing to figure out early on, the big picture is much less so and the story provided enough twists and turns and surprises to keep me invested throughout.

This was my second read by author Karen Rose, and it's a very good romantic suspense; but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as her first book, Don't Tell. The plot is tightly drawn, the villain is uber creepy, scary, and sadistic, the heroine, teacher Jenna Marshall, is spunky and endearing, and the suspense is edgy and intense, but the hero, Special Agent Steven Thatcher, who played a key role in Don't Tell, really got on my nerves in this one. Her novels, I'M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America's RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into twenty-four languages. Karen Rose (born Karen Rose Hafer in Baltimore, Maryland, United States) is an internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning romantic suspense author. Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland (Karen with a degree in chemical engineering), they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as a chemical engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn't concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”The topic was chilling and more than realistic. The struggle of an abused woman, the courage it takes to pull herself out of the abyss of torment and rise literally out of her own ashes was beautifully done. The author, though sparing the reader a few gory details, didn't sugarcoat the subject, presenting it straightforward, unblinking and unflinching in all its starkness and bleakness. Other people act out of character too. A long-time cop freaks out when his son is kidnapped and acts very stupidly, in ways that any cop would know in his very bones would only endanger his son. The police act out of character--they allow civilians, including a 14 year old boy, to talk to suspects, go to a hostage situation without any cops even there yet. The romance isn't the main focus of this book but I thought it was nicely balanced with the suspense. I was mostly interested in the suspense anyway so I didn't mind. We know who the bad guy is from the very beginning so this isn't a who-dunit but more of a when-are-they-going-to-catch-him type of book. Our hero and heroine are blissfully going about their lives, tentatively beginning a new relationship while never knowing that the psycho husband is closing in on them. You pray that he will be caught soon because the body count in this book is really high. Anytime Winters was front and center I felt like he was this unstoppable Angel of Death. He just kept circling tighter and tighter around Caroline and I was breathlessly awaiting the moment when he would strike. Part of my unease about this book was knowing that Max was physically unable to protect her. Of course this is fiction and the good guys must triumph but it definitely made it more interesting in an edge-of-your-seat sort of way. Max wasn't some ex-soldier or FBI agent who knew how to save the day. He was a handicapped history professor and while he was certainly willing to put himself in harms way for Caroline and her son, when push came to shove, he had a bad leg. This leaves most of the hope for Caroline's survival on her own shoulders and I loved that. I loved reading about her facing her husband again, thwarting him even and challenging his dominion over her. I loved it. This had to do in part with the characters. Both Caroline and Max are deeply damaged from events in the past that have seemingly defined their futures (Caroline with her abusive ex; Max was involved in a car accident that permanently crippled his knees.)I think because they were so damaged and hurt by their past events it led to a fierce need to see them be happy again. Life has given them one crapshoot after another with no break in between. They deserve a shot to be a little less miserable. Meanwhile, after seven years, Mary Grace's car was located in a lake in South Carolina, the contents of which cause her husband, Rob, to suspect she's alive. He becomes consumed with finding her but this has also caught the attention of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI),who has always believed Rob murdered his wife and son.

I was also hoping for more time spent on the mystery and not Steven's "woe is me" angst or people telling him he needs to get married again for the sake of his boys -- which again, product of its time. A good read overall, love the story line, didn't love that at times it was a bit too repetitious. A subject that even in real life is awful and down right frightening - spousal abuse. Even worse when it involves a cop, who is not only abusing his family, in particular his wife, but a cop that beats confessions true or false out of perpetrators! A couple of issues are left open which mar the overall reading experience, such as Brad's sudden return to his affable self after being a typical obnoxious teen for half the story, and the dubious resolution of the vandalism subplot. HAVE YOU SEEN HER is an unforgettable thriller, part of bestselling author Karen Rose's Raleigh series.The story of Special Agent Steven Thatcher, whom we met in the previous book, and Jenna Marshall, his eldest son's science teacher.

Offering heart-racing thrills, both in the bedroom and the forensics lab, this second romantic intrigue from Rose ( Don't Tell This was my first read by author Karen Rose, but it definitely won’t be the last. Don’t Tell is one of the best romantic suspense books that I’ve read. Domestic violence is an all too real and common theme in suspense/thrillers, but this is one of the most chilling, terrifying, haunting, and emotionally gut-wrenching accounts that I’ve encountered in books or movies. It’s flat-out fantastic, riveting, and I simply couldn’t put it down, even though there were several times that I got so upset or had such blurry eyes that it was hard to continue. Attention to the little things had kept them safe. And it was way, way better to be safe than sorry. Sorry equaled dead." There is plenty of sex and violence in this book. Not for the faint hearted: drugs, mental illness, murder, rape, kidnap. Oh there's romance too. :)

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The readers of Don't Tell will see the consequences and the devastation domestic violence have on everyone evolved. Also, in some sections of the community domestic violence against family members are overlooked or what happens between couples behind closed doors are private and not their business. The Readers of Don't Tell will learn the importance of safe houses for women and children to find a safe place after escaping from violent relationships. If you like your hanky-panky on the sweat-inducing side, this is the book for you. I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it because the sexual tension in this book was so intense. And that’s just the tension part. The hanky-part broke my air conditioning, it was so hot. This is not a book to be read in public because even though the cover isn’t very conspicuous in screaming “I’m a romance novel, bitches!”, the sex scenes will have you squirming and feeling mighty uncomfortable, as if the casual stranger walking by would be able to read your thoughts inside your head whilst you’re reading this book. Steven’s treatment of Jenna really pissed me off at times, and she was waaay more accepting and forgiving of his behavior than I would have been. I understand the fact that he's under considerable, agonizing stress raising three boys as a widower and working on a high profile, gruesome serial killer case, but she was nothing but helpful with his kids, caring, supportive, nurturing, and genuine. He constantly lashed out at her and acted like a jealous, petulant jerk 90% of the time, and there were a couple of times that I thought she would have been within her rights to slap him good. And call me shallow, but the description of his looks didn’t quite scream “Tall, Dark, and Handsome” to me, so that coupled with his less than stellar treatment of such a lovable heroine, and I was really put off. He eventually sees the error of his ways, vows to do better, and shows her tenderness, but he's definitely not one of my favorite romantic heroes. If you know me, you know I love Karen Rose novels. She is one of my go to authors for thrills and gore, but also a great story line. HYSH? is no exception. Here's what it is about...