REVIEW: Hold Me by Betsy Horvath

 

Author: Betsy Horvath

Pages: 306

Genre: Romance - Suspense

Publisher: Carina Press

AMAZON: Hold Me

Release Date: 5th September 2011

Hold Me was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Carina Press

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Katie McCabe's life is going nowhere fast when FBI Special Agent Lucas Vasco jumps into her car at an intersection. Luc, his undercover guise blown, is on the run from the Mafia and expects to be killed at any moment. What he doesn't plan on is finding himself attracted to the firecracker beside him. He feels compelled to protect her when her life is threatened, and insists she stay with him for her own safety. 

After learning she has become the target of a psychotic hit man, Katie is whisked off to Luc's house to hide. Once there, she's shocked to discover that she and Luc have an unexpected connection—a connection Luc already knew existed, but withheld. Will their intense attraction reach flashpoint despite their misunderstandings and the pain of the past? 

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Hold Me was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Carina Press

Katie McCabe is fresh out of a relationship where she caught her fiancé Tom cheating on her with a work colleague and resulted in her being arrested due to a ‘broom’ incident. She has since lived a seemingly normal uneventful life until undercover FBI Special Agent Lucas Vasco jumps into her car whilst trying to evade the mob and a known criminal, Joey Silvano.

Katie has no idea whether Lucas can be trusted; he has no credentials on him and appears to be dangerous. They end up on a high speed chase with bullets being sprayed and numerous near misses which eventually lead to them being stuck in a quarry and arrested by the local police.

What she soon finds out is she could possibly be on the bad guys hit list so will be placed in protective custody with Lucas, he has offered his home rather than a safe house as there is a suspected leak within the FBI, this is where she will remain until the bad guys are bought to justice with no communication with her family, friends and workplace whatsoever. All this because she has supposedly embarrassed Joey Silvano in front of the police and ruined his reputation.

I enjoyed the drama, suspense, action and of course the romance, I liked how we are taken on a journey to find out who can and can’t be trusted and to rescue a member of Katie’s family who has been kidnapped due to mistaken identity.

Katie was a wonderful, caring and endearing heroine, her life was turned upside down but she seemed fearless and even faced with danger she didn’t cower. Lucas was a dominant alpha male but was also vulnerable due to his past, he didn’t feel worthy of Katie and seeing him struggle with his feelings was at times difficult. I loved the banter and the humor between them, I liked that there was a connection through Katie’s foster sister, Melanie that both were afraid to act on or talk about; I was so anxious to see them discuss their feelings as I was reading along.

Ms Horvath has given us insight into a number of the secondary characters and I am intrigued to read more about them, especially Justin Nemes, David Allen and Melanie. I also liked the addition of Luc’s Newfoundland Dog, Spot.

It was an evenly paced plot with a few light twists to keep you guessing. The romance and suspense was balanced perfectly and I enjoyed Ms Horvath’s style of writing, the dialogue was snappy and entertaining.

All in all, an enjoyable debut novel from Ms Horvath.

This is how I imagine Katie with her wild red curls and Lucas!