The Girl in the Mist (Misted Pines 1) by Kristen Ashley-Review Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 4, 2022
Renowned author Delphine Larue needs a haven.
A crazed fan has gone over the deep end, and she’s not safe. Her security team has suggested a house by a lake. Secluded. Private. Far away. In a beautiful area of the Northwest close to the sleepy town of Misted Pines. It’s perfect. So perfect, Delphine has just moved in, and she’s thinking she’ll stay there forever.
Until she sees the girl in the mist.
After that, everything changes.
Delphine quickly learns that Misted Pines isn’t so sleepy. A little girl has gone missing, and the town is in the grips of terror and tragedy. The local sheriff isn’t up for the job. The citizens are up in arms. And as the case unfolds, the seedy underbelly of a quiet community is exposed, layer by layer.
But most importantly, girls are dying.
There seems to be only one man they trust to find out what’s happening.
The mysterious Cade Bohannan.
•••••••
REVIEW:THE GIRL IN THE MIST is the first instalment in Kristen Ashley’s contemporary,adult MISTED PINES romantic, suspense series. This is fifty-five year old former Green Beret, former FBI field agent, former profiler turned contractor and single father Cade Bohannan, and fifty-three year old, single mother, actress turned author Delphine Larue. For fans of Kristen Ashley’s books and characters, there is a slight cross over with the author’s Dream Man/Chaos/Dream Team series.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from first person perspective (Delphine) THE GIRL IN THE MIST follows actress turned author Delphine Larue hiding in seclusion in the small town of Misted Pines. Delphine has a stalker who has turned his attention on two other people in an effort to flush out our story line heroine but Delphine refuses to play, and secretly purchases a house by a lake in Misted Pines where she will first meet sixteen year old Celeste Bohannan, the youngest child of former FBI agent turned independent contractor Cade Bohannan. Cade is well aware of the danger that is following our story line heroine, and with the assistance of the FBI, Hawk Delgado and his team, and Cade’s sons Jesse and Jace, Cade knows that the woman with whom he will fall in love will have some of the best protection money can buy but all is not well in Misted Pines, when not one but two murders threaten to tear the small tight-knit town apart. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Cade and Delphine, and the potential fall-out as a psychopathic killer turns their attention on our storyline heroine.
Delphine Larue has a past shrouded in betrayal. The mother of two grown, adult women, Delphine knows a thing or two about family and relationships, and battles between head and heart watching Cade struggle with his blossoming sixteen year old daughter. With two adult sons, working alongside our hero, Cade is a respected and revered contracted profiler who has found himself on the wrong end of the local Sheriff whose work ethics are questionable at best. Trying to keep Delphine’s whereabouts a secrets, our couple quickly discover that betrayal comes from a familiar face.
We are introduced to a large ensemble cast of colorful and somewhat eccentric secondary and supporting characters including Cade’s sixteen year old daughter Celeste, and his twenty-seven year old sons Jesse and Jace Bohannan; Delphine’s daughters Fenn and Camille; Sheriff Dern; several FBI agents, local law enforcement, gossips and townies. Here’s hoping the author has plans for Jesse and Jace Bohannan.
THE GIRL IN THE MIST is a complex, detailed and edgy murder/mystery thriller of betrayal, murder and obsession, family and friendships, relationships and love. As Cade and Delphine begin to unravel the secrets of the small town where the Bohannan’s have lived and loved for generations, closeted skeletons reveals a deeper and much darker hidden agenda involving a number of prominent and scandal-ridden residents whose proclivities are about to be exposed in a town that puts ‘Peyton Place’ to shame. The premise is intelligent, intriguing, haunting and tragic; the romance is seductive and passionate; the characters are dynamic, stubborn and determined.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
It was no surprise this situation in Misted Pines was known to him. He was tasked with keeping me safe, and although this had nothing to do with me, it had to do with Misted Pines, and that was where I was. It was also not a surprise that he currently did not have any resources to devote to assisting with it.
However, he gave me two names.
Nightingale Investigations, an outfit located where Delgado was, in Denver, Colorado.
And Tanner Layne, a private investigator who worked out of a shop in Brownsburg, Indiana, which was, to my astonishment, where Joe Callahan was based.
Neither were close.
But Nightingale was closer.
Though for reasons I didn’t understand (they probably had to do with Callahan), I called Layne first, left a message as it was the weekend and waited.
It was not long before he returned my call.
He had a full caseload, but said he’d look into it and get back to me.
I then reached out to Denver, leaving another message.
Not much time passed before a woman named Shirleen Jackson got in touch, saying she’d assessed it and presented it to her boss, the man behind the name, Lee Nightingale. She would follow up with me as soon as he’d made his decision.
Within hours, I had two replies.
Layne: “We’re ready to roll when we receive word from the investigator on site that he welcomes assistance. We have a message to him. But if he doesn’t give us the greenlight, I’m afraid at this time we can’t get involved. I hope you understand. I would feel the same if someone I didn’t know pushed into one of my investigations, especially at this early juncture. Trust me when I say that it’s never helpful.”
I didn’t know who “we” was, I also didn’t ask, but I suspected he’d consulted with Callahan.
I also didn’t think this was “early.” At that point, she’d been missing nearly a week.
Which begged the question, what parents had a slumber party for their eight-year-old on a Monday evening?
I didn’t ask Layne that either.
Jackson: “We understand your concern, but Lee looked into things and the investigator contracted to assist the local authorities is second to none. In this kind of situation, although it seems contradictory, more hands on deck can make a mess.”
That was two nos of the same ilk.
I decided to focus on the “second to none” comment, knowing they were referring to the fact it was clear the locals had called Cade Bohannan in.
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Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn’t taken her first breath!).
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
