Review: The View from Rainshadow Bay

The View from Rainshadow Bay was an implausible tale with bits of great story telling sprinkled within. It’s the story of a recently widowed woman who gets dragged into a mystery with multiple deaths and a scary killer after her. There are deep buried secrets to be uncovered and a romance quickly building.

I was drawn to the main character, Shauna, for several reasons. I admired her strength to move on after her husbands death and I liked how fiercely she loved her son, though I think the author used that as a bit of a crutch sometimes. Shauna would do just about anything if she was reminded that it was best for her son and I got a little tired of that same technique.

I also liked Zach as a character. He’s flawed but completely likeable. He has a lot to carry on his shoulders but he does it well. I felt like his actions and reasoning where inline with what I expected of his character. The other supporting characters, Alex and his grandmother, were well done as well.

Now, that being said, the book was just too far fetched for me. I can’t really get into here without giving it away so I’ll try to stay clear of specifics. Part of the issue I had was that there were too many twists in the story. While the authors does tie them all together, by the end of the story I kept thinking “that would never happen”. There are a few other inconsistencies that really bothered me. One character is murdered in a way that would really never work. The killer seems like a vicious psychopath one minute and the next he is hesitant and regretful.

The other issue I had was that the romance seemed way too quick for me. This is supposed to be the start of a series and yet the book wraps up as a standalone and didn’t really seem to leave a lot for the rest of the series.

My overall thought is that I probably won’t continue on with the series. I give it 2.5 Stars.

*I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

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