Shadows On the Water by Jo Lambert : REVIEW

Shadows on the Water by Jo Lambert

Series: Cornish Coastal Romance (book 1)

Release Date: 10th August 2020

Publisher: Independently Published

Genres: Romantic Suspense

After the tragic death of her fiancé, Ava Warren is slowly rebuilding her life. She has a supportive family, great friends and a job she loves, managing holiday letting company Estuary Escapes in her home town of Kingswater. Another relationship is the last thing she wants or needs. Until one evening she meets Alex Penhaligon.

Alex has just returned home from California where he has been working for the past five years. A case of mistaken identity gets them off to a bad start. But discovering his error, Alex is anxious to make amends and soon persuades Ava that he’s not quite as arrogant as she thinks he is. As their friendship begins to turn into something much deeper, Ava wonders whether she can at last put the past behind her and make a new future with Alex.

But someone is watching. A man who not only thinks Ava should be his but also holds a long term grudge against Alex. And he’s determined to get his own way irrespective of the lengths he has to go to or who gets hurt in the process.

Set on the south coast of Cornwall, Shadows on the Water is a story of family ties, lost love and tangled loyalties.

The book opens with us getting a glimpse of the love between Ava and her fiancé Gavin and the easy manner in which they enjoy one another. However, tragedy soon draws a veil on Ava's happiness and she is left desolate in her grief. Losing Gavin meant losing a little bit of herself too and she can't imagine ever being happy and settled again. As a reader I became instantly emotionally invested in her character and at times felt the burden of her despair and grief. Despite having a wonderful support network, her loneliness was palpable. This book was a perfect example of an author really being able to draw the reader into the story and make the characters jump out of the book.

However, despite trying to pick up the pieces of her life and move on, soon little doubts start to creep into her mind regarding the circumstances of Gavin's death and she knows in her heart of heart that he was not a man to take stupid risks. And of course, just when romance is the last thing on Ava's mind, the universe it seems has other ideas and the enigmatic, flawed yet totally adorable Alex Penhaligon makes an entrance into Ava's life in the most unexpected way, totally throwing her off guard. However, her happiness is threatened by someone sinister. A shadow in the background. Someone out to cause more harm to Ava and the introduction of this sense of foreboding threat adds such a gripping element to the book.

The subject of grief and loss and desperately trying to see any way out of those feelings was really well written and was quite emotive.  There was the perfect balance between romance and thriller. It did take me a few chapters in to get my head around the wealth of characters but I feel each and everyone was essential to the plot and all were well thought out, interesting and really added something to the book.

Jo Lambert has written an excellent novel and readers will be delighted to know that this is part of a series that will surely be a huge success.

ABOUT JO LAMBERT

Jo Lambert lives on the eastern edge of the city of Bath. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. Her debut novel was published in 2008. It became the first of a set of linked romantic sagas following the lives of several families in rural West Somerset. These have currently been withdrawn for updating. In 2015 she published Summer Moved On, a contemporary romance set in South Devon. A sequel, Watercolours in the Rain followed in 2017.

In June 2018 Jo signed to Choc Lit for a one novel contract. A Cornish Affair, set in North Cornwall, was published in 2019 under their Ruby Fiction imprint.

Now back as an indie author, her latest novel Shadows on the Water is the first of a three book series. She is currently busy working on the second which will be published next year.

In between writing she tries to find time to read and review. She also has an active blog. Jo loves travel, red wine and any music as long as it has a great melody and lyrics. Oh and she often takes the odd photograph or two...