Atonement / Born to Die (McIntire County 1 & 2) by Winter Austin-reviews
4.5 out of 5 for this reader folks!
It’s double review time. I love being able to review the same series on one review. Everything is so fresh in your mind, and the subtle hints that you can find in a first book are more recognizable when you start the second. I like catching the little “I see what you did there” moments.
This review consists of the first two books in the “McIntire County” series by Winter Austin. I am really beginning to discover I like romantic suspense, and have to say that Winter really writes it well. These books also touch on what I consider near and dear to my heart .. PTSD. I really want to give high fives to Winter for researching this topic thoroughly, and giving it the proper respect it deserves. I personally found that this complimented her characters wisely, and while PTSD has been debilitating in many ways, she has shown that her characters can fight through it with the right kind of acceptance, love and support. LOVE THAT Winter Austin .. SERIOUSLY! 🙂
Let’s get on with it shall we?
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BOOK 1 – Atonement
McIntire County #1
by Winter Austin
Genre: romantic, suspense
Release Date:May 18, 2015
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /
Description
Atone for your sins…
A rash of unexplained suicides in the sleepy town of Eider, Iowa, draws McIntire County deputy Nicolette Rivers into a devious killer’s twisted plot. A former marine sniper suffering from PTSD, Nic hides her own deadly secrets, and The Priest will do anything to expose it and her.
For redemption is at hand…
Eider police detective Con O’Hanlon is assigned to help Nic uncover the truth behind the suicides. She rebuffs his help at every turn, but the stubborn Irishman holds on. When tragedy strikes, Con helps cover up the fallout, but is he too late to prevent Nic’s dark, downward spiral? Or is Con the one man stronger than her demons?
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Review
Oh Boy .. this girl has some serious daddy issues. LOL
The story introduces Nicolette Rivers (Nic) as a McIntire County deputy and a former marine sniper. She has seen some pretty crazy stuff out there and it has left her with many internal scars .. the biggest being PTSD. When she is placed in a situation that makes her PTSD come to the forefront, Nic must do all she can to deal with her issues. She is also estranged from her General father and the remainder of her family. She just wants to be left alone.
Con O’Hanlon is a police detective that has been assigned to work with Nic when a string of apparent suicides begin to occur. Once the suicides are established as murder, the killer begins to play with Nic a little, bringing more of her issue to surface. Nic is a hot mess trying to keep it together, and Con’s support and ultimately love may be the one life line she has to cling to .. regardless if she doesn’t know how to do it. On top of it all, here sister Cassy makes an appearance, and it turns out she has General daddy issues as well.
Ya .. so much more, but you have to dive right in to get to full effect. It’s an incredible story, and if I had to make any negative comment it would be that I thought it was a little too long. That being said, the story was extremely engaging and thought provoking.
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BOOK 2 – Born To Die
By Winter Austin
McIntire County #2
Release Date: March 28, 2016
Genre: romantic suspense
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /
Description
Trouble’s on the run in rural Eider, Iowa, and Deputy Cassy Rivers’s heart is in the line of fire. Two years ago, she barely escaped a harrowing experience at the hands of a maniac—and not without scars. Now a series of random robberies leads to the brutal death of a fellow officer, and she must put her trust in the one man who broke her heart.
FBI agent Boyce Hunt knows commitment isn’t for men with pasts like his. He left Cassy once to protect her from the blackmail and manipulation he faces from his mother’s criminal enterprise. But when they reluctantly partner up to capture the modern Bonnie and Clyde terrorizing McIntire County, their attraction flames to life once more, pulling Boyce between two loyalties.
Will they risk their hearts again, even if it means losing everything?
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Review
We got to meet both characters here, highlighted in this book Atonement. So glad that Winter has written this and that I got to read this book right after her first one. I was still raw from the story and wanted more.
Cassy Rivers is Nic’s sister and a also a deputy. She helps her sis in the first book solve a case but this came at a heavy price. It didn’t help that the hot FBI agent that came to play is a complete jerkface, and her attraction to him has not diminished. She figures this out when he is back to help solve and track a couple of robbers.
Boyce Hunt is a jerkface. Straight up! He doesn’t get close to anyone, is all in for good time without labels, and comes from his own set of “Oh that’s why you are a jerkface!” He also totally got under my skin. When Boyce returns to McIntire Country, he is paired up with the smexy Cassy. He is all about reconnecting, but this time his past is an issue and things are getting awfully real with Cassy in romance department.
I LOVED this pairing. We got to understand Cassy a bit in the previous book, but Boyce has his own story that really set root in this novel. We did get to revisit Nic and Con and see what their future looks like, an I love that many characters has bigger roles in this book than they did in the first. I found myself needing the story to pick up the pace a little as there some slow parts, but when the speed pics up it’s well worth it!
Overall, I will absolutely read more by Winter Austin and I will also visit more authors that write romantic suspence. So if you are looking for a couple of awesome reads for the summer, that involves romance with a thrilling mystery, well developed storyline and characters, I would recommend these two in a heartbeat!!
HAPPY READING!
Copies supplied by the author
Reviewed by Rachel T.
But not tonight.
Tonight nothing that mattered to her—not her family, her past, or her pride—was as important as doing her job. And damn it, Deputy Cassandra Rivers always did her job, even when it was obvious the orders might get her killed.
She and her squad-car partner, Deputy Deacon Nash, had been sent to this side of the county—the heavily wooded side—to patrol for the culprits who’d dared to rob a bank yesterday. With every mile she traveled through the darkened timbers, sweat seeped from her pores, saturating the first layer of clothing.
“Calling all units. Robbery in progress at the Speedy Mart, 1653 Elm St., Two unidentified suspects, wearing dark clothing and black sneakers. Suspects are armed. No sirens or lights.”
“10-4, dispatch. Rivers and Nash responding. Approximately nine minutes out, over.”
Thank God for small miracles. She yanked that car around, and as fast as the slick road conditions would allow, she sped back toward town.
“Easy, Rivers. We’re one of several units responding,” Nash warned.
Damn this crappy weather. No doubt the gas station attendant wasn’t in a situation to wait for whoever was less convenient to arrive at the rescue.
A few miles from the edge of town, the glare of headlights seemed to come out of nowhere. It took Cassy’s brain a few seconds to realize that the oncoming vehicle was veering back and forth between her lane and the other, and those lights were a lot closer than they first appeared.
“Shit!” She reacted without thinking, hitting the brakes and throwing the car into neutral, and braced for impact, hoping the cow kicker covering the grill did its job to protect them. “Hang on!”
The front wheels hit a slick patch, and suddenly the steering wheel jerked right and the car skidded off the road into the ditch. The nose dove into a snowbank, spraying the windshield with a powdery shower and bringing the vehicle to a rapid stop. Cassy jerked in her seat, the belt locking her tightly in its grip. Glaring at the whooshing wipers as they cleared the moisture from the glass, she unclenched her fingers from around the steering wheel.
“Rivers, you okay?” Nash asked.
“Fine, but pissed off.” Shifting the car into park, she left the engine going and removed her belt. “Those assholes are going to be in for a surprise.” She hit the lights, and as she tried to push her door open, it stuck in the snow.
Nash grabbed the mic and radioed dispatch. “Dispatch, be advised, responding unit has been in an accident and is in need of assistance, over.”
Cassy twisted in her seat to brace her feet against the door and forced it open wide enough for her to squeeze out.
“Copy that,” she heard the dispatcher reply as she fumbled through the drift. Nash would give their location.
Flashlight in hand, she scanned the area, making sure not to peer into the stand of trees at her back. Oh, how nice. The asshole who’d ran them off the road hadn’t bothered to stop and was now a faint red glow in the distance. The mound they’d plowed into was mid-calf deep, and by the looks of the tires, the car was stuck good. They’d need a wrecker. Upon making another pass toward the road, the flashlight beam glinted off metal. Cassy paused, her heart hurtling into her throat as the light revealed the secret in the dark.
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Winter Austin perpetually answers the question: “were you born in the winter?” with a flat “nope.” Having returned to her hometown, Winter has stepped into the chaotic world of a full-time wife, mom, author, and employee.
A lifelong Mid-West gal, Winter rediscovered her love of her beloved Iowa with its hot summers and snowy winters. She grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around the table or a campfire. Since becoming a published author, she learned a mindset of a glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller author. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic thrillers. Combining her love of all things rural, agricultural, and military, she’s turned her small town life upside down.
