❄️ "Lost Down Deep" ❄️ (2020) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Series:
The Mosaic Collection
Series:
The Rose Tattoo Trilogy (Book #1)
Publication Date: April 1, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Click Picture for Purchase Information
“She is the only one who can tell the police
who attacked her in her home.
If only she could remember …
If only she could remember …
Summer Velasquez is on the run from a man she has no recollection of after an attack she can’t recall.
Every face in the crowd is a potential suspect, so how is Summer supposed to know who is a threat to her and who isn’t?
After fleeing her assailant and the parents who lied to her about what happened, she changes her name and seeks refuge in Elora, Ontario. The small town feels familiar, although she has no memory of ever having been here.
Even in what should be a safe place, she can’t shake the feeling that she is being watched.
When Ryan Taylor strolls into the Taste of Heaven Café where she works, Summer is immediately drawn to him. However, he may not be who he says he is either. As her suspicions grow, Summer prepares to run again.
But at least one person is determined to stop her. Permanently. And if she can’t remember who he is, this time he may succeed.”
Thank you in advance to the author, Sara
Davison, and JustRead Publicity Tours for providing a complimentary review
copy. A positive review was not required, all words are my own.
Davison is a “new-to-me” author.
I was curious about the title “Lost Down Deep”,
which still didn’t make any sense to me as I read this. And, looking at the
cover had me wondering “why is this lady wearing that dress in the snow?”
This is definitely different than the other
Mosaic Collection books. This is a suspense story, and it starts right off with
the proverbial “bang” (well, more like thud down the stairs). It doesn’t stop.
It is definitely suspenseful all the way up until almost the end. Davison truly
kept this interesting with stalking, suspense, and slight romance.
This might have certain “content” or “trigger”
warnings:
** Alcoholism
** Drug Abuse (past)
What helps this story is the author’s use of
short chapters making it a relatively quick read. It has 57 chapters.
Since this is part of The Mosaic Collection,
there will be a strong theme of faith. This is quite central to the story given
Summer’s experiences as well as Nancy, the woman she stays with in the small
town of Elora. Summer has no recollection of the last few years of her life due
to being attacked. Still, she feels unsafe and leaves her home.
She also doesn’t have a good relationship with
her parents who insist on watching her. She is also, for some reason,
mistrustful of them.
After the attack, Summer tries to lay low in the small town of Elora. What she doesn’t know is that two men are “stalking” her. Diáz and Jude. And, neither one seems too trustworthy as the story begins.
After the attack, Summer tries to lay low in the small town of Elora. What she doesn’t know is that two men are “stalking” her. Diáz and Jude. And, neither one seems too trustworthy as the story begins.
It is through Jude, albeit she doesn’t know it,
that Summer meets Nancy who happens to have a room for rent. Summer is using an
alias (Ana Santos) and Jude is using one too (Ryan Taylor).
Despite how Nancy comes to meet Summer, she
soon becomes a mentor and friend to her. Nancy was one of my favorite
characters next to Daphne. I really loved the supporting characters a bit more
than Summer or Jude. That’s not to say I didn’t like them – just not as much.
Daphne is the one who hires Summer at the
bakery, and I loved their friendship as well. I would’ve loved to have seen
more of it outside the bakery though.
Of all the towns for Summer to pick, she happens
to pick the one town that harbors bad memories for Ryan and it is because of
Summer’s plight that he is forced to confront what has happened. He also feels
it is time to reconcile with his family – brother, sister, and mother over an
accident he blames himself for. His brother points out something that we often
forget – if God forgives us, and we don’t; is our court higher than his?
The writing was fluid, and kept the pace at an
even level – not too much action, not too little; it doesn’t linger in any
moment. The romance between Jude and Summer, or rather the “rekindling” given
her memory loss, is sweet and beautiful. And, it gives the reader an insight as
to Jude’s motive for what he is doing.
Equal attention is given to both the suspense
and romance. The writer doesn’t disclose major plot points right away.
The only problem I had was the conversations in
Spanish. One character would think (thus tell the reader) slightly what the
person was asking; or answer in a way that gave hints to the reader; it was hard
to figure it out though. This starts around chapter 10 and continues
throughout.
It is in chapter 25 that we finally figure out
who Jude really is and it was something I didn’t even expect; so that was about
halfway. When we find out who Summer is in chapter 52, it comes as quite the
shock since that is almost near the end of the story. There are no warnings or
indications as to who she was or what she did for a living. That was definitely
a surprise. As there wasn’t enough time to explore that particular plot line, I
am still uncertain how I feel about it, whether it was realistic or not given
her relationship with her parents.
As to why Summer was attacked, it leads back to
her family. The plot was a solid idea and unique. However, it fell short in
places with the delivery. And, we find out why Diáz is stalking her as well.
That leads the reader to assume who his “boss” was. The story is left “open ended”
as to what will happen with Summer’s parents. While this is the first of a
trilogy, I am hoping those issues get resolved with the remaining stories.
While I truly enjoyed this story, the Spanish was distracting for me as I felt lost in reading these interactions since I didn’t understand it. Those parts I skipped over, skipping over it didn’t detract too much from the story.
While I truly enjoyed this story, the Spanish was distracting for me as I felt lost in reading these interactions since I didn’t understand it. Those parts I skipped over, skipping over it didn’t detract too much from the story.
This had a STRONG message of faith, forgiveness,
trust, reconciliation, and repentance.
This takes place in Canada so there might be
some spelling and grammatical issues that U.S. readers could have problems
with.
I’d recommend this to people who enjoy a story
with bilingual characters and/or fans of the author.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating
explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara Davison is the author of the romantic suspense
novels The Watcher and The Seven Trilogy. She has
been a finalist for eight national writing awards, including the Word Award for
Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards,
and is a Word and Cascade Award winner. Sara has a degree in English Literature
and currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their
three children, all of whom she (literally) looks up to.
She can be found on the following social media accounts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarajdavison
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