Caffeinated Reviewer | Monster in the Closet by Karen Rose

23^rd Aug

Monster in the Closet
by Karen Rose
Series: Romantic Suspense #19, Baltimore #5
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate

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The New York Times bestselling author of Every Dark Corner returns to Baltimore, where a father-daughter reunion puts innocent victims in the sights of a stone-cold killer…

Baltimore PI Clay Maynard routinely locates missing children for clients, but his own daughter—stolen by his ex-wife—has eluded him for years. Until she turns up right under his nose…

Since she was a child, Taylor Dawson believed the lie her mother told her: that her father was a monster. But now she has a chance to get to know the real Clay while doing real work as an equine therapist, which includes helping two girls whose mother was brutally murdered. She might even find something deeper with her boss’s handsome son, Ford Elkhart, whose eyes are so haunted. But just as Taylor feels her life opening up to new family, work, and friends, a danger lurks in the darkness—one that will show Taylor the face of true evil…

MONSTER IN YOUR CLOSET by Karen Rose is part of her Romantic Suspense series and features the FBI team in Baltimore. I’ve read and enjoyed Rose’s detailed and suspenseful tales so I am excited to see what Sophia Rose has to say about her newest book. Grab a cuppa and check out her review.

Sophia Rose’s Review

MONSTER IN THE CLOSET delves into the darkest corners and exposes the vilest of evil through the work of a tenacious band of law enforcement and private individuals determined to make a small corner of the world safe. I got swept up in their crusades again violent crime and saving the victims.

MONSTER IN THE CLOSET is both the nineteenth release in Karen Rose’s long running romantic suspense series and also book five in the specific Baltimore series following the team of crime-fighters there.

This was my first time with the Baltimore series with its crew of regular characters and I’ve only read the Cincinnati ones so I was prepared for a little struggle getting up to speed since this was book five. I was right to be cautious as, wowsers, this one was a reunion sort and I encountered so many people with inter-woven lives. It was obvious they were the characters from the previous stories in the series. All that said, the situations in this one were able to standalone.

Yes, I use the word ‘situations’ because these are ginormous books with multiple narrators and plot threads running through them until the threads start to knit together near the end. In this installment, like others, the criminals even get to be major players and narrate their side of matters. This in no way detracts from the intensity or suspense and acts quite the opposite.

MONSTER IN THE CLOSET has two main plots: a young girl who can give witness to who brutally killed her mother and a long-lost young woman looking to get past her mother’s lies and meet her father. There is also an update reunion of sorts for all the past characters. Oh, and let’s not forget that as usual, in the midst of the darkness of the suspense, there is a spicy romance.

Now, while I loved this one, I didn’t love it as much as previous books I’ve read in the Cincinnati series. It set up good and I was fully engaged, but then it slowed down a few times. The large group of surrounding cast was great characters, but I felt the story suffered from having so many people clogging the scenes. I also wasn’t into the romance side in this one. They were horny at the oddest times even though yes, I thought they were good together.

Both the main plots pulled me in emotionally and held my attention. The little girl, Jazzie, is old before her time and goes through so much in this story. She so captivated me that I would love to encounter her again in a future story to see how this steel-spined jaded, but loyal and loving girl grows up. The other heroine, Taylor, is the center of an explicable situation due to no fault of her own as are her adopted dad and birth dad. It really tugged at my heart strings.

The character development, particularly when it came to the main villain fascinated me. You really get a sense of the ‘why’ behind things and the good guys don’t have an easy time in bringing the villain down as he’s savvy and ruthless. I enjoyed being along as they put together the trail of evidence, built their case, and leaped into action when things got dire.

All in all, this latest release was worth my anticipation and I still want to go back for all that came before it as well as snatch up each future installment by the author. Those who lean more toward thriller police procedural style romance and like when it gets dark and gritty with some complex character development should give these a try.

Monster in the Closet by Karen Rose offered a romantic suspense with a dark and gritty case Click To Tweet