One last breath

A wedding gone bloodily wrong kicks off this overstuffed romantic thriller from Jackson and Bush (Wicked Ways). Liam Bastian's mother insists upon an elaborate public ceremony to consecrate Liam's bond with Rory Abernathy, despite their legal marriage two months earlier. Rory's background is very different from the Bastians' wealth and privilege, and Liam's mother disapproves of the match. En route to the altar, Rory is aggressively threatened and attacked, while a sniper wounds Liam and other wedding guests. Rory flees to a small town in Washington State, convinced she's the cause of it all and desperate to protect a vital secret. Five years later, Liam is about to call off the search for her when his private investigator gets a lead on Rory's location. Reunited against Rory's will, Liam and Rory can at last reconnect, though their relationship takes a back seat to conflict and crime. Vandalism aimed at the Bastians' business, simmering family quarrels, and additional murders thicken the byzantine brew, obscuring the true villain until the breathless finale. This novel is aimed much more at fans of puzzling thrillers; those who prefer a focus on romance will be disappointed. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A masked man forces his way into Rory -Abernathy Bastian's hotel room and threatens her and her unborn baby right before she walks down the aisle to repeat her vows with her husband, Liam. Rory defends herself with a paring knife, panics, and flees-just as a sniper takes aim at the wedding crowd and everything erupts into bloody violence. Five years later, she has reinvented herself as Heather Johnson and carved out a life for herself and her daughter in remote Point Roberts, WA, still fearing she's the target of a killer. But Liam is on her trail, and just when they finally connect, the murders begin again. VERDICT Combining their considerable talents, sisters Jackson and Bush have penned a chilling thriller with enough false leads to keep readers enthralled to the finish. Jackson and Bush (Wicked Ways) write books independently, too. They live in Lake -Oswego, OR. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.