Violet Dawn (Kanner Lake Series #1)

The logical thing to do would be to call the police, but fearing publicity and her past, Paige Williams doesn't call the police. Instead, she decides to move the body of famous actress Edna Sans from her hot tub to an abandoned swimming area of Kanner Lake. What about her past would possibly cause Paige to think this is a wise move and how can she ever keep her crime hidden? More importantly, who really did kill Edna Sans, and why?Violet Dawn is an interesting book. It's not really fast paced nor is it slow paced. It's not an intense thriller, nor does it have a laid back feel. I guess the best way to describe it is a suspense/police mystery, without a lot of plot twists and turns. It's easy to read but doesn't give a lot for the reader to discover. A strong feature to the book is the inclusion of Paige's background. It was integrated in a way that really provides most of the suspense and guessing in the book. Most everything else is pretty predictable, but her past is revealed a little at a time and brings the reader closer to her.Many of the characters give the reader someone to either like or dislike. They help bring this somewhat scattered story together into a tight fitting plot. Each seems to be doing their own thing, when in reality, they're all working towards the same goal. While each have different motivations, they each have their boundaries of what they're willing to do to accomplish their goal. Makes for a nice interesting mix and keeps the story flowing well.The heart of the story is love. Love we're given, love we've lost, and love we never had. Also very prominent is choices, their consequences, and second chances. Finding the ones we're giving and grabbing them. God provides us each with forgiveness and a new start, we just have to take him up on it. Though Violet Dawn is the first part of a series, it is a complete book in and of its self.

Ok, When I first started reading this story, I said to myself "Really? Do you expect us to believe someone is really that stupid?" I can tell you that if I had a dead body in the hot tub with me, I would not have the desire to pick up the head to see if I knew who it was and I definitely would not decide the best thing to do would be to pick it up and drag it into my car, then despose of the body. I don't care what I was running from, it couldn't be as bad as covering up a murder I didn't commit. At the most, after I ran out of there screaming, I would try to regain my composure and check to see if the person was alive. But beyond that, every bit of common sense would scream out to call the authorities... With that, I almost stopped reading the book because I felt it was an insult to my intelligence to believe the author would think that anyone would actually do such a creepy thing, unless they were trying to cover up their guilt in that crime. Well, I'm glad that I considered the previous reviews and kept on reading. It was a very twisted tale of a young woman's desperate attempts to hide from her terrible past. The story was a good one and I felt all that Paige Williams was feeling and I also felt the evil of what a sick mind is caple of finding pleasure in. It was a great read and it definitely kept you turning the pages. It was a good murder mystery that will keep you guessing.Also, FYI, it is clean and doesn't have a bunch of cursing in it. That I am thankful for. I look forward to purchasing and enjoying many more books from this author.

I'm going to have to go against the grain here and only give this book 3 stars. It's not really a bad read and the author does a good job of moving things along.Unfortunately, it seemed as if the author knowledge of police /law enforcement methods, computer information systems and their actual capabilities/uses etc were pretty weak, which I had a hard time getting over. For example in small of a town where nothing actually happens the police chief conveniently has a system set up to get suspicious prints and gets results from a system that records criminal activities for someone that didn't have a criminal history. Possible, maybe but not highly likely. Also the cops seem to magically jump to conclusions with very basic info. Everyone in the town disliked the lady that was killed and yet his first and only real suspect was base purely on the fact that the maid/assistant claims that her employer(the dead lady) told her that she had a minor conflict with the main character who threatend to kill her. Really, what cop just assumes that an argument with an annoying customer actually leads to murder. Not to mention that the earing that was planted to try and frame her really never led to anything at all. So what was the point in having it in the story if it led to no further complications and didn't add to the story?Anyway, the other thing that just really annoyed me is how weak and pathetic the main character seems. I guess I just have a hard time with the constant complaining about her unfair horrible life and how bad she was treated/abused by her mother and then she runs back to help momma at the first call... really? I just really can't identify with a character that comes across like an abused puppy that's so desperate for attention it keeps going back to the person that kicks it. Also it just seemed a real stretch that someone would hide a body just because they didn't want to be found by some unknown people over less than a couple hundred grand.Over-all to me the plot just seemed a bit weak and the main character, for me, unlikeable.I know some of these things are very personal reasons for not liking the book and to be honest it's not horribly written. Other people with different tastes may enjoy it, but just not for me.

Great!

This is essentially a romantic crime novel and it works well in both genres. The premise of the story is that a young Woman, Paige, finds a body in her hot tub and then hides it rather than reporting it. This is because she is trying to hide her past which seems to be catching up with her in a myriad of terrifying ways. The suspense is good and I found myself turning page after page long after I should have been asleep just to find out what happens. Collins writing captures the characters well and I found myself loving and hating them in turns. The Christian aspect enhamces the storyline and gives it a greater depth. I found this to be a really good book and would highly recommend it. I can#t say why I have given it 4 rather than 5 stars without giving the plot away but suffice to say I really enjoyed this book.