by Toni Anderson
ARC Review
Published: December 23, 2013
My rating: 4.5 of 5 ⭐️
For eighteen years Josephine Maxwell has lived with the fear of her attacker coming back to finish the job he started, shielding herself from the world around her, her only connection her art and her one good friend. Never more alone since losing the last connection with her childhood six months ago and walking away from a man she could not get out of her mind, her nightmare was becoming a reality. No longer safe from her attacker, the only person able to help her is the same FBI agent she betrayed and left handcuffed to a bed.
Working on major art crimes, FBI SAC Marshall Hayes has always been a stickler for law and order, following every rule by the book. But when he intercepts an emergency call from an address he knows only too well, he doesn't hesitate to throw out the rule book to get to the side of the complicated woman whom he has kept tabs on for the last half year. Finding out the man who scarred her for life has her back in his sights, rears every protective cell in Marshall's body.
Trust is at a premium between Josie and Marsh, since their initial encounters six months ago left neither of them inclined to make that mistake again. But knowing well enough that alone she stands no chance against a killer intent on making her his next victim, Josie has no choice but to entrust Marsh with her safety, even if it makes resisting him as a man that much more difficult. Marsh doesn't trust anyone with Josie's safekeeping other than someone of his choosing, but finds the line between needing to be close and wanting to be close to Josie blurred.
The closer they are entangled in their dual pursuit to bring down the killer before he brings them down, the more difficult it becomes to deny the truth that has been in their hearts the whole time.....
*******
AGAIN!!! Fan-freakin-tastic example of suspence-romance writing!!!
HER LAST CHANCE has a slight dark and tragic flavour to it that I was not entirely able to get rid of, despite the outcome of the book. But Toni Anderson's writing is so sharp, insightful and well-balanced, I overcame my slight 'hang-over' in no time.
Josephine is such an incredibly strong, sad, lonely and hurt individual, she has turned quite ascerbic in her social movements. Like a wounded cat, she snarls and snaps at anything or anyone that comes too close, thinking she is protecting herself, but instead pushing much needed protection away from her. With only a killer's singular focus on her, she is distrustful of anyone's interest and her own feelings.
Frustrated with Josie's unapproachability and her flippancy towards his beloved law and order, Marshall is trying hard to come to terms with his own demons and restrictions before he can place his feelings for Josie properly. Finding his largely self-imposed structure had been necessary to keep some vestige of control of his life, with Josie he feels himself loosening those boundaries.
A high intensity story, with action from the first page on, an intricate suspense tale with twists and turns that are susprising and a conclusion that is as near to closure as is possible to come. The characters are deep and rather brooding, but manage to lose themselves in each other. And the writing is clever, hot and altogether fabulous!
✨A potent, taunting & hair-raising quest for closure.✨
**ARC provided in return for an honest review.**
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