McBride’s Gem (Pale Bay Treasures Book 1)

SUSPENSE/THRILLER:  Randi Ronin finally gets the courage to serve her adulterous and abusive husband with divorce papers. On her way to the bank to finally cement her future, she gets a flat tire. She is rescued by a handsome man named Hawk McBride. He is a private investigator who is intrigued by Randi. After he helps her, he can’t help but feel that something bad is going to happen. Randi just assumes everything bad that is happening is just a series of unfortunate events. However, Hawk McBride is sure that these things are intentional and someone is after Randi. They come together and try to figure out who is after Randi and why. Little do they know that there is a mysterious gem that Randi is connected with that will shape their destiny. 

Ms. Matthews definitely knows how to keep her readers guessing. At first, the reader assumes that this is an average crime novel, with the ex-husband on the heroine’s trail. Instead, fantasy mixes with contemporary as the reader discovers that a mystical gem is tying everything together. Randi and Hawk are strong characters that have great chemistry. However, a lot of repeated scenes really drag down the pace of the book. Some scenes seemed almost out of order and cause some confusion. There were also some odd jobs that didn’t make much sense, like a mechanic pulling fingerprints off the car as evidence. However, the legends that were created about the gems were absolutely fascinating! Overall, this book was filled with passion, destiny and suspense!

Amanda Hupe