Never Miss by Melissa Koslin is a standalone romantic suspense novel.  The story is full of mysteries and some unusual circumstances that are not explained until later in the book.  The story started into the action right away.  In fact, that is one of the strong points of the read. An immediate interest in what would happen next keeps readers turning pages.

The story line itself was intriguing and scary all at the same time.  The book was sprinkled liberally with colorful characters and plot twists.  In the middle of it all the author crafts a romance, but some parts of it just do not fit the characters or their personalities.  It seems as though the author wanders off on a “romantic” tangent in which one character was pretty much focused only on his lustful thoughts and desires–pausing the story and repeatedly focusing on physical attraction. It includes an odd scene where a character appears in public without a shirt for no specific reason other than to give more fuel to the physical attraction.  These types of scenes detracted from the story. Then the author must have realized that would never work out in a good way and she brought the romance back to usable levels.

Once that hump is overcome, the story continues to develop and readers can continue on with the plot.  The author includes some very stern and cruel characters.  It makes for pensive and sad emotional moments.  Don’t rely on this book to put you to sleep.  It will keep you on edge.  One never knows how it will end.

Review of an Advanced Reader Copy provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  Many scenes in which characters are shot at or involved in gun battles, some involve blood and fatalities; characters are trapped and there are several scenes involving knives and blood; a person encourages another to get an abortion when the mother is 7 month’s pregnant; a character speculates that a woman would “rip a man’s testicles off” if he threatens her; report that a character committed suicide; a report of another character killed in a hunting accident.

Sex/Nudity:  A character says he didn’t ask to sleep with anyone; non-married characters share a hotel room, they have different beds; a female sees a male without his shirt on; a male character spends a great deal of time thinking of a woman’s physical features, including her “curves” and cleavage, not graphic; non-married characters were going to share a bed in a non-sexual way, but the male character couldn’t contain his lust so it did not happen; a reference is made to a man’s testicles;  a report that non-married characters were living together.

Mature Subjects:  

Death of parents, murder, snipers, bio terrorism

Drug/Alcohol Use:  

None