Enjoyed this mystery, romance. True crime writer and the cowboy. Perfect beach read, one day and done!

Dark Horse is your typical Harlequin romance novel by B J Daniels. Its a quick sweet romance with a touch of suspense.


Synopsis:

Nikki is a true crime writer with an impeccable reputation. Its almost uncanny how she can solve or shed light on a crime long gone cold. That’s why Travers McGraw was inclined to accept the writer’s pitch for a book on the kidnapping of his infant twins twenty five years ago. But Nikki knows more about the case than she let on, this case may be a bit more personal to her than the McGraw family knows.


Cull Mc Graw is instantly drawn to the woman though he is suspicious of her actions and motives. He has lived in the shadow of the kidnapped twins since he was 10 years old and has seen what it has don’t to his father after every year goes by with no new developments, its literally killing him and makes his father promise to stop looking after the crime writer has gone on her way. The problem is when its time for her to go, he doesn’t want her to.


If you are a fan of the Harlequin romance books especially the romantic suspense this book is up your alley. It is a quick read with a little spice that is nice. If you were to focus on this book and nothing else I’d say you would have it read in a few hours. The outcome of the mystery is not a surprise at all and there isn’t a big plot twist. There is just enough drama to keep it interesting without getting cheesy.

In the batty meter I’d give it a solid 3 out of 5.


I received a copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

True crime author, Nikki St James has been a success and now wants to under take the hardest case so far. Travers McGraw has hired her to see if she can find out if the twins who were kidnapped 25 years ago are alive. His oldest son, Cull is not happy about having Nikki look into it and raise questions again after all of these years but she has her own reasons and this is personal. The twins disappeared and their bodies were never found. The mother is in a mental hospital and though Travers has remarried to Patty who was the nanny at the time of the disappearance, he does go to see his ex-wife and tries to talk to her even though she is non-responsive to anyone who talks to her. All of the same people are still there except for the horse trainer. What could they remember that was never told before. Nikki thinks she can find some answers.

B.J. Daniels’ Dark Horse is a crisply written romantic suspense about a true crime writer, Nikki St. James, who discovers that the identity of her father isn’t exactly what her mother had told her through the years. She discovers that he was implicated in the kidnapping and perhaps murder of a rancher’s twins and decides to investigate in the hopes of clearing his name.

Dark Horse is a very quick read with almost a gothic feel of ghosts and dread, which infect the main character so that she scurries through rooms feeling as if evil is trailing her. Because of the pace of Dark Horse, the reader never really comes to know Nikki as well as one would like nor really understand why she would be stupid enough to step off the curb in front of a pickup truck at the beginning of the novel to ingratiate herself to one of the siblings of the kidnap victims when she already has a meeting with the people on the ranch. It definitely undermines her credibility as an intelligent woman. However, she’s observant and suspicious and manages to mostly rectify the first idiocy.

Despite the fact that this is a short novel there are many points-of-view used throughout and mostly unnecessarily in my opinion. I presume that Sheriff McCall was a character from a previous novel so that Daniels’ readers would be pleased to be reunited with her, but reading this as a standalone, the intrusion of this particular extra pov was not welcome as it added no extra dimension to Dark Horse.

The mystery itself was intriguing with lots of false trails. I was a little disappointed in the ending as it left some things open, but I presume that this is an opportunity for a series and those future novels will wrap up the loose ends.

The romance is pleasant enough, but it reminded me of the novels I read when I was an early teenager of the guy roughly pulling the woman to him and kissing her like he had every right to do it and the fate of the world was attached to it. It wasn’t really sexy although my teen self probably would have thought it was.

All in all Dark Horse was an intriguing, quick read.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Somewhat predictable, but still a fun and interesting book. There were a lot of family secrets, plenty of drama, and, of course, romance to keep the reader intrigued.

B J Daniels is one of my favorite authors. That said she really out did herself with this one. The romance combined with the mystery kept me turning the pages well after my bedtime.

Dark Horse is the start of the three book trilogy set in Whitehorse, Montana. Look for characters from previous books in the same setting. This time there is a 25 year old case to solve and Nikki St. James is going to make this her next true crime novel. There are secrets galore in the story. Nikki has one, as do the other members of the McGraw family. There is a current crime in addition to the 25 year old mystery of who took the McGraw twins. There were plenty of twist and turns as the story progressed. Nikki ended up solving two mysteries as well as finding one of the McGraw brothers to fall in love with. A great story that had a partial solution to the twins mysteries. There are still two McGraw brothers who need a HEA and the rest of the mystery to be solved so look for the next two books in the series.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Nikki is a true crime writer and along the way she tends to solve mysteries. Nikki was called my the father to write a book on the McGraw twins kidnapping, a mystery that had people thinking her father and the mother of the twins had something to do with it. Its been 25 years since the kidnapping and the father thinks Nikki can maybe help things out and his oldest son as well as his current wife is less then thrilled about her snooping around where she shouldn't be.

I loved this book, it kept me on my toes. I loved seeing the story and mystery of the missing twins unfold. I Loved that there was plenty of hints along the way to keep me guessing and changing my mind. I loved that I was sort of half right but still need to see more of what happens in the next book to see if my suspicions are right. I loved that even though there was that spark between Cull and Nikki that interest they had didn't over power the book, its not much of a romance but more a mystery if you are into that thing and with how this book turned out I'm all for it. I can't wait to see what happens next in the following book!

An edge of your seat mystery!

Embarrassingly enough, this is my first B.J. Daniels book which I received thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley, but it will definitely not be the last!

This story opens with a nighttime visit to an insane asylum, and if that isn't enough to get your pulse pounding there is the mystery of a missing set of twins and a true crime writer determined to find the answers and clear her father's name.

There are a lot of twists and turns to this book and just enough romance to sweeten the plot.

A highly recommended read!

I give Dark Horse 5 lovely kisses

Nikki St. James, a successful true-crime writer, arrives in Whitehorse, Montana, to investigate the disappearance of baby twins 25 years ago. Unbeknown to the rest of his family, the twins' father, Travers McGraw, had invited Nikki to stay on the McGraw's horse ranch and have access to any information available and speak to anybody who was around at the time of the twins' kidnapping. Travers' oldest son, Cull, is less than impressed, fearing the renewed attention will have an adverse effect on his ailing father. Facing reluctant witnesses and resistant family members, can Nikki discover whether the twins are dead or alive?
This was my first book by B.J. Daniels, and I did enjoy it. I think I might have enjoyed it more had I been familiar with her other Whitehorse Montana series. I didn't think the inclusion of the sheriff's storyline added anything to this plot. But readers familiar with all the recurring Whitehorse characters might see that differently. The mystery itself was really interesting and the desire to find out what had happened to the babies and who was behind their kidnapping kept me reading eagerly. It wasn't completely predictable, which was nice. I didn't find it particularly suspenseful and some of the writing was repetitive, but there were also some really good creepy, atmospheric and tense moments. I believe this is classified as a romantic suspense story, but the romantic aspects didn't convince me at all. Those parts were very bland. I'm also kind of a bit bummed that I hadn't realized this was the first in a new series, so while the end provides the predicted HEA as far as the romance is concerned, the mystery isn't fully resolved. Guess Dead Ringer, book 2, will provide further answers.
Overall, a quick, clean, interesting read but nothing that will stay with me for very long.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book held my interest and is very well written. It is a great mystery/thriller full of twists and turns. I recommend it highly.

I started reading this book because it was Spider-Man. I kept reading this book because it is awesome.

Miles Morales is a good kid. A good superhero. He’s got a good heart and is written out in a very human way. He isn’t perfect. He’s filled with guilt and teenage angst. He’s not infallible which makes him better, more interesting. He is all the best parts of being a teenager, and some of the worst as well, as he fumbles in talking to girls, sometimes doesn’t communicate the best with his family and bottles everything up inside

A teacher is meant to teach you, and help you become a better person, but some aren’t there to do that. Some people are just not meant to teach and this novel shows you how.

This novel also shows you how to stick to what you think is right, and stand up for what you believe in, in the best possible way.

I would recommend this to not only any fans of Spider-Man, and Marvel, but to anyone who wants to read a YA novel filled with a lot of heart. If you want that then this is the book for you.

Also it introduced me to a new form of poetry and I’m not going to complain about that.

I have seen B.J. Daniels name associated with Harlequin western romance for some time now, but don’t remember reading any of them. Dark Horse is a great book to start with since it is part of a new series that takes place in Whitehorse, Montana. I found B.J. Daniels’ writing style to be easy to follow, the romance sweet and clean with suspenseful moments but not really edge of your seat action.

The story deals with one of a parents’ worse nightmares, kidnapping of their children. In this case, the kidnapping happened long ago, twenty-five years to be exact. All this time with no closure, has taken its toll on the family. Knowing this, oldest son Cull is against the true-crime writer who has been invited to the ranch. While this is not true enemies to friends to lovers romance, it has a lot of the elements.

I would have liked for the mystery of the kidnapped twins to have been completely solved with them being alive and well but closure still eludes the McGraw family as this book ended. In that way, there is a cliff-hanger but Cull and Nikki’s romance does come to a happier conclusion. I enjoyed this story and would purchase the next just to find out more about what really happened twenty-five years ago.
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Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

I am an avid B.J. Daniels fan. This book is set in Whitehorse, Montana, a setting she has used for other series, except we don't get much of a feel for the setting, unlike in her other books. I love her shorter form romantic-suspense novel and she generally excels at it. Not so much this time. The characters didn't have much depth, the plot was predictable and the romance was flat. The only thing that saved this book was the past pace. Not all issues were resolved and I can only hope that she has some surprises in store for the next book.

Nikki St. James is a true-crime author and has decided her next book is going to unravel the unsolved kidnapping of the McGraw twins 25 years ago. This book is not only professional but personal to Nikki. Her determination to find out what happened has everyone in the family, with the exception of the patriarch, Travers, on edge, and someone is willing to commit murder to keep this secret buried. 3 1/2-Stars

This review is from: Dark Horse (Whitehorse, Montana: The McGraw Kidnapping) (Mass Market Paperback)
ARC - I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest!
Nikki wants to know the true + clear her father's name.
What really happened to the McGraw's twin ?
She will stop at nothing to accomplish her goal.
Cull is sick + tired of people butting in on his family's business.
Why can they just leave things alone?
He is leery of Nikki, but there is some chemistry as well.
Will he trust Nikki ?
Is lies a good basis for a relationship?
Will Cull forgive Nikki, when he learns the true ?
The author did a good job in balancing the answer to these questions.
Once I started reading it, I could not put it down.
Such a lovely storytelling.
I can't wait to read the next book.

Another great romantic suspense from this author! I always look forward to BJ Daniels books!

The McGraw twins kidnapping has remained a mystery for 25 yrs. And every anniversary has continued to tear at the family's heart and soul. Nikki St James is a true crime reporter who has investigated unsolved crimes and on occasion found new evidence and solved them. She believes she has new information for the McGraw case, and the wrong people had been charged, Nikki intends to put the record straight and catch the correct evil doers. The children's father is convince the twins are still alive but Cull, his oldest son, is not so optimistic, and he's concerned for his father's health.
This was a very entertaining book, full of suspense and intrigue. The exciting conclusion is full of long awaited answers....and some unanswered questions. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Highly entertaining, emotional, gripping, mysterious and danger filled romantic journey. They may have found their personal HEA but the Mystery of the missing twins remains to be solved.

Cull McGraw oldest son and all around alpha male cowboy is not happy with the idea of rehashing the mystery of his twin siblings kidnapping 25 years ago and believes that each grain of hope is slowing killing his father. Nikki St. James is a tenacious investigator and true crime writer looking for answers to this kidnapping is since being invited to dig into the past by the twins father. This case is personal to her since her father was accused of the crime but died in transport to the prison many years ago (a fact she keeps to herself while digging). Very intriguing reading.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

I was so intrigued by this book and looking forward to the books that follow. This book was a great mix of mystery and romance, with a bunch of twists in the story! There is a lot of action going on in the story and so many secrets that will come to light when Nikki starts digging into the past.
Cull McGraw was not very happy when his father brought a true crime writer to their ranch to try and solve the mystery of a kidnapping from 25 years ago. He finally agrees to help Nikki when his father asks him to cooperate, as well as his two brothers.

There is such sadness to this family with all that went on before and after the kidnapping, and Nikki is a pretty good detective as she digs for the truth. I won’t give away the plot, but the suspected kidnappers were not who the police accused – Nikki’s father and Cull’s mother!

While part of the mystery is revealed, there is still more that is unsolved. I am looking forward to the next book in the series as I hope more will be revealed in each book and I really want to learn more about what happened with Ledger and Abby, and see who Boone will fall for since he doesn’t think there is a woman that he wants to “lasso”. I loved the ending where Cull’s brothers had to talk some sense into Cull before Nikki walked out of his life.

A chilling and mysterious years old kidnapping and attempted murder...with a bit of romance included. The story catches your imagination from the very beginning...keeping you reading to see how everything is resolved. I'm looking forward to the next installment of this new series...with the hope that there will be more answers about the kidnapping.

This ARC book was complimentary, providing by the Publisher and Netgalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.