Colleen Coble has written a fantastic christian murder mystery book. I never even knew there was such a category before now!
Now I'm hooked after reading The View from Rainshadow Bay.
From the beginning I immmediately felt my heartstrings tugged and they stayed twisted up and tugged to the end.
Five stars.

I am not an overly religious person, but I absolutely love Colleen Coble's books and this one is no different! Her novels blend religion, romance and suspense.

"The View From Rainshadow Bay," grips you from the very beginning as the plot revolves around several seemingly unrelated "accidental" deaths. The main character, Shauna McDade is a widower raising her 5 year-old son Alex after her husband dies in a tragic accident while climbing with his daredevil best friend, Zach Bannister.

A year has passed since Jack's death and Shauna still blames Zach for it. As things heat up, Shauna realizes she needs Zach's help and slowly her guard comes down long enough to see Zach is a good man. Together they seek to find out what is really going on in their small Washington state town.

This mystery was good. It had some romance as well. I did not figure out who the killer was ahead of time.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes mystery, romance and christian books.

This story starts off with a bang - literally. I was surprised at how fast the action started, before getting to know the characters or foundation of the story, but it definitely kept things moving. There is a slot of big mystery in this book and it's fun to figure out if any connections exist. There seemed to be a romantic undertone in parts of the story but it wasn't a main storyline. A few religious references made me wonder what genre this book was under - they seemed to be inserted a little awkwardly. Overall, some good suspense.

Colleen Coble is one of those authors who you know is going to give you a good read any time you pick up a book with her name on the front.
In her newest series, Coble takes readers to the Puget Sound area of Washington state.
When her mentor and friend dies in a suspicious accident, Shauna’s only option to keep her son safe is accepting help from the man she blames for her husband’s death. And Zach is willing to do anything to prove how much he regrets his part in his friend’s demise.
Throughout A View from Rainshadow Bay, there are plenty of suspicious characters. So much so I kept changing my mind about who I believed was behind everything. As the pieces fall into place to reveal the big picture, the tension, action, and chemistry heat up.
Experience the beauty and ruggedness of Washington, introduce yourself to small town living, and sit back to enjoy another heart pounding thrilling read from Coble.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The View from Rainshadow Bay mainly focuses on Shauna, a charter pilot. A year before the main events of the book take place, Shauna’s husband, Jack, is killed in a climbing accident, leaving Shauna with only her business and their son, Alex. However, recent events in the town, including the murder of Shauna’s business partner, points to Shauna no longer being safe. She and her son have no where to turn, except Zach Bannister, the man Shauna blames for her husband’s death.

Overall, I enjoyed the View from Rainshadow Bay. It was different from other books I’ve read in terms of the characters and the plot. Everything connects, even if you don’t think it does. I was actually surprised by the outcome/ending. Some things seemed obvious as you read the book, but still, you’re left guessing who done it every page until the end.

Pros:
-I loved the mysterious, but still very real, atmosphere of the book. I felt like I was in the town as everything was happening. The mystery itself left me guessing until the very end, and I was anxious throughout the book trying to figure it out.
-The characters! I feel like each character, even little Alex, was very dynamic. Each person had a complex background and history, which made the plot of the book even more intriguing. The characters have each been through so much and have different things going for them. I don’t think I’ve read a book where either/both of the main characters are pilots!
-The prologue had me so confused and anxious for such a large part of the book. You have no idea who it is until much later. This prologue was such a great way to open the book and had me wanting to finish the book immediately. It also ties in very nicely with later events in the book.
-I felt like the flashbacks to prior events added a nice touch to the story. In the story, people will refer to things that have happened long before the start of the first chapter, such as the prologue, and I liked being able to see what happened with my own eyes instead of relying on the characters.
-I LOVED having the point of view of the person behind it all. It was interesting seeing how the person would do something and then right after that, the book would switch back POV’s and you would see the main characters reacting to it. I loved this aspect of the book, and it made everything so much more interesting. I would honestly be overjoyed if I could get an entire book from just their perspective. I liked knowing how they thought, even if I didn’t know who it was.

Cons:
-As much as I love this book, the writing fell flat at times. It wasn’t always as descriptive as I would have liked, however, this can be up to personal preference.
-I felt that the characters were very much real, however, it is mentioned in the book that Shauna is ex-Navy. I felt that her actions and reactions throughout the book didn’t much reflect this, but again, I might be wrong. The story is told where you see each character and their thoughts, but not everything all at once. Other than that, I had no problems!

This book was nothing spectacular, but I would still recommend it. I kept wanting to read it just so that I could see what happened. I’m glad that I read it. This book was very unique, despite a few cliches. I loved the town and its people, and especially the lavender fields. They added quite a nice touch. If you want a mystery with lighter topics, such as romance, entwined with it, then this is the book for you!

The View from Rainshadow Bay by Colleen Coble is a romantic suspense novel readers like myself won't forget. The characters have a way of pulling me further into their lives. I was frightened for them and hoping they would make it out fine. As with any suspense novel, I wasn't sure of the outcome nor who the killer was.

Shauna lost her husband due to a dare competition. She never forgave her friend Zach's for daring her husband too, far. However, it's been a year later and now, she's facing another loss. An older man and friend of hers dies from an explosion. But that didn't happen until after he gaveled a box to give to his wife and his burner phone number. Shauna can't ignore the gut feeling that the sweet older man was murdered...

Zach owns an emergency airway place in town. He and Shauna haven't spoken since the day they loss Shauna's husband. Now, it's just Shauna raising her son alone and blaming Zach for the loss. Zach is torn inside about the whole situation. Out of the blue, Shauna comes to him asking him to take her son on a father-son picnic only because her son begged her. Zach is filled with hope to mend things between them. But then fate has other plans.

Colleen Coble has created a fascinating world of fiction in this book. I was impressed. The danger, risks, and romance caught my full attention. Sexy Zach and compassionate yet daring Shauna...made for a fun journey. I enjoyed reading this, and I recommend to all readers.

Thank you to netgalley, publishing house in the other for the opportunity to read this book return for my honest opinion.

This was a great suspense novel. I was hooked right by the first chapter. I love the characters of Shauna and Zach. They were so easy to read and so well written. Shauna blames Zach for her husband’s death and they haven’t spoken since his death but this mystery brings them together and as they try to solve this mystery they realize they have feeling for one another.

I can with the say I didn’t suspect the villain in the story. it had a great ending.

Would definitely check out more books by this author

What a great way to start off my romantic suspense reading for 2018. I could not figure out who the bad guys were until they were revealed. I love that!

Shauna is trying to make a life for herself and her 5 year old son after her husband dies while on a rock climbing adventure with his best friend Zach. Zach has never been able to forgive himself for the death of Jack. One day while Shauna was visiting a family friend he gives her a box and told her to give it to his estranged wife for safekeeping. As she is driving away the house explodes killing her friend. Shauna realizes it was no ordinary explosion and that the mysterious box and its contents have something to do with the explosion. Shauna enlists the help of Zack even though she blames him for her husbands death. Can Shauna and Zach figure out why the box is so important before others are killed or worse them?

You will be on the edge of your seat reading The View from Rainshadow Bay. There are several mysteries tied into the main mystery and your mind will be continuing to think about what is happening next. I caught myself several times still reading at 3am as I could not put the book down. The characters are well thought out and every action and reaction is true life.

I cannot wait for the second book in the series to be released this July.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an advanced copy in exchange for a review based on my own thoughts and opinions.

The View From Rainshadow Bay is the first installment in Colleen Coble's new series set just north of the Olympic National Forest along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Navy veteran, helicopter pilot, mother, and widow Shauna McDade is about to enter another very difficult stretch in her life. Since her husband's death a year ago she has faced financial, as well as emotional, struggles. One struggle she will face is asking her husband's best friend Zach Bannister to take her son Alex on a father-son hike. She has barely been civil to Zach since Jack's death as she blamed Zach for her loss. But the fact is, Zach blames himself, too, and would do anything to help Shauna and Alex. He just doesn't expect what all that will entail.

Once Shauna talks to Zach she goes to visit Clarence Glennons at his request. Clarence had been not only a mentor, but also a father figure, since she returned from the navy. He had taught her about mechanics and aerial photography. His fear was obvious as he told Shauna he had to disappear for awhile and asked her to mail a box to his estranged wife, Lucy. They had separated after the supposed overdose death of their daughter about a year ago. As she drove away there was a terrible explosion and Clarence's cute little house was reduced to a pile of splinters. With shaking hands, Shauna called 911 and before long Sheriff Burchell and Zach as a volunteer fire fighter arrived.

And thus begins an intense thriller that is hard to put down. This is a story of family and the lengths some people will go to to protect the ones they love. And as the sociopathic murderer adds more people to his list, and threatens Shauna and Alex, Zach becomes determined to protect them. When it is discovered the role this mysterious villain has played in other deaths, it is apparent that Shauna and Alex need that protection.

This heart pounding tale will keep you guessing right up until the end. And as that end unfolds it is hard to turn the pages fast enough to keep up with your racing heart. Ms. Coble once again opens the lens on the sociopath/psychopath and spins a tale you can't wait to finish yet never want to end. I do recommend this thriller!

The story starts with a terrifying moment that makes you want to keep reading to figure out who is in danger and where the story will lead. Then we meet Shauna and Zach and get to know them as characters. I quickly felt for both Shauna and Zach, both lost someone important to them and this caused a major wedge in their friendship. I was sad for Shauna and how she felt she had lost her one chance at happiness and was now meant to be alone forever. It frustrated me the way Shauna and Jack’s mom treated Zach. He placed enough guilt on himself without having to deal with their treatment.

Shauna is trying to cope with her new reality as a single mom after losing her husband in a climbing accident. She blames Zach for the death of her husband so their once close friendship has crumbled and she hasn’t spoken with him for quite a while, but she will do anything for her son. He asks her to ask Zach to go on a father-son hike with him, forcing her to speak with Zach. This moment ends up being the start of a renewed interaction between them.

Shauna witnesses the murder of a friend right after he gave her something to pass on to someone else. Shortly after this incident Shauna’s life gets threatened and Zach’s home becomes the safest place for her and her son. The forced time together makes Shauna have to interact with Zach, making her remember the good friendship they once shared, but she still holds onto her hatred towards him. When another person dies and Shauna discovers that her husband’s death may not have happened the way she thinks it did, this leads her to trying to figure out what really happened and who is behind everything going on. I tried to figure it out along with Shauna and Zach, but was surprised by the reveal. The “product” the killer is selling felt a little unbelievable to me, and their actions didn’t seem to line up between the various crimes. I found the story to drag a bit in the middle, after starting off with a bang, deaths of a few characters and the threat to Shauna, nothing really happened again until almost near the end, where the action definitely picked up again.

Shauna and Zach both learn to make peace with the past. Through the help of the pastor Shauna learns that even though she experiences feelings for another man it does not take away what she once had with her husband. Zach learns he is not to blame for the death and he is not betraying his friend by caring for Shauna and her son. I really enjoyed the way this second chance story was presented and how the characters learned to let go of the past and embrace the future God has in store for them.

A wonderful new series by top suspense author Colleen Coble! This story grabbed me from page one and kept me turning the pages. I fell in love with the characters and hated to see someone terrifying them . . . but, of course, that is why it is a suspense novel! :) I had to find out who the villain was and slowly but surely, the pieces all fit together. A nicely plotted storyline with loveable characters. Recommended!

The View from Rainshadow Bay is vintage Colleen Coble at its best! Lavender Tides, a small Victorian style town reminiscent of a Thomas Kinkade painting, will leave the readers' senses soaring over Rainshadow Bay—with its white foamy waves throwing themselves against soaring cliffs and beauteous waterfalls. Ms. Coble is a master of descriptive imagery, breathtaking suspense, romantic tension, and who-dun-its that not even the expert at figuring them out (me -- lol) is able to do so!

I felt the romance was fairly predictable, but we usually know who's going to end up with whom in the novels we read anyway. Zach is your typical perfect hero, Shauna, the beautiful, grieving widow, and Alex, her 5 yr old is perfectly adorable. I had a problem with the plot because in certain places it was so intricate my brain felt scrambled...or fried...take your pick. But isn't that the mark of a great suspense writer? To keep the reader guessing til the very end? Speaking of which, fans of Colleen Coble's books will receive a delightful surprise at the end...nooo peeking. Now I'LL leave you in suspense!

Two stars for "it was okay."

Much of the story was fast-paced and enjoyable, but honestly the stuff in between was not. Evidently no one read it over for consistency. I also had some issues with character/theological aspects. It made it into a real disappointment, because the cover is stunning, and I had planned to buy a hardcover copy. Money well saved.

I'm going to put the inconsistencies in spoilers, just so no one's clues are messed up.
<spoiler>
-Shauna is former Navy. Not one bit of Navy, but ten years of it. We are given to assume that's where she learned to fly. She shrinks from danger and doesn't want to do more than keep Mace in her purse. She whines about carrying a gun, even though her son's safety is at stake. She continues to be a fearful milksop until the very end, when she becomes Wonder Woman and is ready to use her dad's arsenal to take out the bad guys. Absolute character shift.

-Shauna goes into the house unprotected and finds her husband's cell phone dead in a jacket pocket. The bad guy is hiding in a closet to snatch her. But somehow she has time to charge the phone up from being dead (probably fifteen minutes or so) and walks out the front door without harm.

-Her lavender allergy. She sneezes any time Karl, who uses lavender oil, is near her outdoors, except when he sits directly behind her in church and reeks of lavender oil.

-The blob in the water. Yeah, that blob in the water. "Shouldn't we get a closer look?".....What was the blob in the water???

-"Why is my truck dying?? Why won't it go any farther?" Yeah, baby, your gas gauge is down. You mean to tell me you don't have an indicator light to get your attention? You don't just run out of gas without seeing something light up on the dash.

-"Give me the box." He knows everything, right? Then how did he not know the sheriff had the box all along?

-Kidnapping Marilyn. Why not just tie her up in her own closet so she doesn't hear you speak? Dumb bad guy award. This guy's wall is decorated.

-He's a pilot who flies to rural places to pick up people for hospital transport, etc. Yet somehow he can't fly a helicopter? Granted, I'm not a pilot, but I would like a word of explanation why you can fly one thing professionally but not the other.

-Bad guy partner gets three strong guys at gunpoint. Next scene: she escorts them along the way, tied up securely with vines. Can someone tell me how she can harvest vines and tie people's hands without getting close enough to have the gun knocked out of her hands? Without letting her gun down when she is supposedly tying those special knots?

It goes on and on. Missing clues, changes of attitude, etc, which make it hard to mentally assemble clues or get comfortable with the characters.
</spoiler>

Next is a moral issue. First, I'm tired of reading books where characters get mad at God because something happened in their lives. It is SO cliched and overdone. It's done here. Second, we jump right into having FMC move into MMC's home. When she protests, he says, "People will say what they want to say. A little gossip won't hurt us...[your safety is most important.]" If he wanted to be honorable, why not ask a friend to come stay with them? Christians are told to refrain from even the appearance of evil. This does not make the guy a hero in my eyes at all. Then he "forgets" he should perhaps be wearing more than shorts to sleep in when he has a single woman in mortal danger in his house. And, yes, he went running into the yard in nothing but shorts to chase an active shooter. Sounds really smart, no?

Then Zach comforts Alex by telling him his daddy is "watching him from heaven." He quotes the verse about "encompassed by a great cloud of witnesses" to back himself up...and Shauna loves him for the words to her son. Whew!! What a case of eisegesis. No, that's not what that verse means. Does anyone really think it does? Reading that chapter was like nails on a chalkboard.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free review copy. Favorable review not required.

As with most of her books, I found Coble focuses on the character's stories and wraps the plot around the characters. At points, the storyline was less believable and it was easy to forget that Shauna was ex-navy, although I can understand how grief changes a person. Maybe I wasn't paying as much attention as I normally did, but when it was revealed who the antagonist was, I had completely forgotten who he was and where he had been introduced before in the book. I liked Zach's character and how he wanted to make up for his guilt at the death of his best friend by looking out for Shauna and Alex. Overall, it was a decent book that pulled in several murders, although the motivation seemed a little far-fetched.

An exciting combination of romantic suspense and cozy mystery. Lots of action. Interesting back stories. Many surprises along the way. I look forward to reading the next one in this series.

Colleen Coble keeps up the suspense in "The View from Rainshadow Bay". We know from the beginning that Shauna and Zach have been separated since her husband died while out climbing with him. When some of her friends die in mysterious circumstances, Zach insists that Shauna and her young son live with him for protection as they try to figure out what's going on. The suspense pacing is good; the romance is predictable.
I am baffled by the author's decision to refer to some characters as Asian and comment on their Asian skin and looks. Asia is a continent. What is the issue with having them be from a specific country or culture? I'm surprised this wasn't caught in editing. The only POC who aren't generically labelled are the caricatures of bad guys who are Chinese.

A great start to another series! Shauna and Zach were very likeable characters. I loved the way Zach was so protective of Shauna and her son. Emotions ran high in this story with so many deaths and unanswered questions. I'm looking forward to the next book. Highly recommended!

"The past has a way of rising up and stepping into view when we least expect it."

There are so many interconnected mysteries and crimes in this novel, I was trying like crazy to discover the culprit, all to no avail. I have long enjoyed Colleen Coble's books and next to her Rock Harbor series, my all time favorite, this is her best yet! Suspenseful to the max. Loved it!


*My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book via Net Galley. All opinions are entirely my own.

The View from Rainshadow Bay by Colleen Coble is a fictional story of romance and mystery set in modern times.
Shauna’s husband, Jack, was killed in a mountain climbing accident a year ago leaving her with a son, Alex. She blames his best friend, Zach for his death as he was the one to get Jack to try risky sports. She avoids Zach as much as possible though she flies her helicopter tours out of the small airport he built in Lavender Tides, WA. Their lives are thrown together in ways they could never imagine when friends are murdered. They are both suspects as they were the last two people to see the victims. Can they come together to solve the mystery and clear themselves? There is also the aspect of trust as Shauna has to decide if she can trust Zach with her life as well as the life of Alex. She also questions where God was when Jack died and how can she trust God to watch over Alex now? Zach is carrying around guilt from the day of the accident and involves himself in many risky behaviors. Can God show him how to let go and trust again?
This is a great start to a new series. There is a lot of suspense and excitement throughout the story. The writer weaves in several possibilities as to what is happening and why which keeps the reader intrigued and guessing who might be behind all that is going on. The characters are well written and their backgrounds explained so the reader understands why they behave as they do for the most part. Not giving too much away but the sheriff at times did dumb things, in my opinion, and at one point I wondered if he was involved in the murders or sabotaging the investigation intentionally. The ending did leave a couple of loose ends, at least for me, but maybe we will see them tied together in the next book. I rate this book 5 of 5 stars; the author kept me engaged and I didn’t want to put the book down. I recommend it anyone who enjoys a good romantic mystery. Looking forward to the next one.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.