GRAVE SECRETS

In this second installment of a Christian romantic suspense series, a secret society’s unholy crusade hits close to home for an entrepreneur when the group kidnaps his sister.

The wealth and connections of Gavin Garrison, who runs a bodyguard service, and his brother, Grayson, make them prime candidates to join the Continental Alliance, a centuries-old secret society/cult. The group’s members aim “to undermine women’s rights and put women back into what they deemed was their proper place.” They do this by kidnapping women from wealthy families and forcing them into unwanted marriages. Mason Kennedy, the Alliance’s leader, ups the ante by abducting the Garrison brothers’ sister, Cate, whom Gavin was visiting while on vacation. Gavin’s investigation reunites him with park ranger Samantha Rollins, whom he met in Kay’s series launch, Grave Pursuits(2023). Samantha is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her uncle. The cold case heats up when Gavin and Samantha discover a link between her uncle and the secret society. That makes Samantha a legacy, and Mason invites her to join the group. She declines. “It’s cute how you actually thought I was leaving you a choice in the matter,” Mason tells her before she, too, is taken. “Turning us down isn’t an option.” Gavin and Grayson commit to joining the society to give them an in to locate Cate and Samantha. “It’s us against the Alliance,” Grayson proclaims. “Let’s find a way to bring Mason Kennedy’s world crashing down around him before he tears down ours.” This second volume of Kay’s Pennsylvania Parks Series sometimes strains credulity. But readers who keep the faith will be rewarded with clear, reassuring testaments to God’s love in trying circumstances that would challenge even the most devout. Samantha herself had “turned her back on the God who saved her, but He kept reaching out to her. All she had to do was take hold of His hand…He didn’t promise a trouble-free life, but He promised to be with her through the suffering.” Yet the growing relationship between Gavin and Samantha will win no points from readers who favor fiercely independent female characters. While Samantha proclaims she can take care of herself, “secretly, she relished his desire to protect her. It made her feel safe.” Still, fans of the author and this Christian series will find their literary prayers answered.

An intriguing, inspirational, but sometimes uneven abduction tale.