Book Review: When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

Publisher: Revell

Publish Date: February 1, 2012

Paperback, 340 pages 
Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Christian
 ISBN: 978-0800720070
Deadly Reunions #1

My Review:
I will admit that I love Lynette Eason's books but When the Smoke Clears topped all of her others with the suspense and the romance.  This one I could not put down.  It kept me guessing and even when I kind of figured out the who, there were still things I didn't understand and made me keep reading the book until the very last page when I closed the book and just said "Wow".

Lynette Eason is by far one of my favorite Christian romantic suspense authors and When the Smoke Clears really takes her books up by another level as I stated before.  The characters are well-developed and interesting.  Alexia comes from a troubled past that is alluded to in the prologue and then it's slowly developed for the reader as Alexia remembers things in the present.  She is strong, but she learns when she needs to lean on someone in this book.  That someone is Hunter a lot of the time in this book, but it is also God as well, and I really like how Ms. Eason handles this part of the book.  Alexia is not a current Christian and doesn't really know how God could work in her life when it has been so messed up.  But through her friends they show her God's love.  It's really well done and not in-your-face.  I wish everyone had friends like Alexia does.  Hunter is a great character too.  The older brother, he's dealing with some issues of his own with his little brother who is drinking a little too much.  But he keeps moving and going with his job, his friends and his faith.  Hunter was so great with Alexia, the sparks just flew anytime they were around each other and I loved it.  He was sweet, a gentleman, and all man wrapped up in a nice package.

The plot moved along really fast.  As soon as Alexia arrives in town bad things start happening to her and it's honestly hard to put the book down for even a few minutes.  I was hooked and had to  know what would happen next.  The pacing was perfect.  A lot of great build up then the climax at the perfect time and then the book was done setting up for the next book.  This book was tied up, but there are some loose ends for the whole series.  I cannot wait for the next book and I hope I get to see some of Hunter and Alexia in that one and some of the other cast of characters I have gotten to know in When the Smoke Clears.

An amazing book from start to finish.  If you are a fan of romantic suspsense or just suspense, you should run out and get this one.  It's a edge of your seat thriller with a great romance as the side dish and it's hard to put down.  I loved it, can't say enough good things about it and can't wait for Deadly Reunions book #2 to come out.  I think I have graduated to huge Lynette Eason fangirl, and I may move to stalker :)


My Rating: 5.0/5.0

Available February 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

About the Book:
As a member of the North Cascades Smokejumpers, Alexia Allen always takes care of the equipment that keeps her safe. So when she nearly dies in a fire due to equipment failure, she knows something is up. Ordered to take time off while the investigation continues, Alexia makes a last-minute decision to recuperate at her mother’s home and attend her high school reunion. Yet trouble seems to be following her, and within hours of arriving home she’s involved with murder, arson—and a handsome detective. But the conflicts ahead are nothing compared to the ghosts of her past. As she strives to remember and forgive her family history, she must also decide if
the secret she’s been guarding for the last ten years must finally come to light.

Chock-full of the suspense and romantic tension readers have come to expect from Lynette Eason, When the Smoke Clears is the explosive first book in the Deadly reunions series.

About the Author (from Goodreads.com): 
Lynette Eason grew up in Greenville, SC. She graduated from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and then obtained her masters in education from Converse College. Author of eight inspirational romantic suspense books, she is also a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). In 1996, Lynette married "the boy next door" and now she and her husband and their two children make their home in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

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FTC Information: I received this book from the Revell (the publisher) for an honest review.  I do make money from purchases made at The Book Depository and B&N.com, but all money is used to fund giveaways and shipping for giveaways from the blog.