FINAL DECISION: This story was okay, but I thought it was too complicated by other relationships so that the main romance suffered. I liked the suspense aspect, but wanted more between the hero and heroine.

THE STORY: Savanna Gray has come to Silver Springs with her two young children running from her discovery that her husband was actually a rapist. He's in jail claiming he is innocent, her mother in law blames Savanna for failing to support him, and the towns people blame Savanna for not recognizing his criminality sooner. Savanna comes to live in a house owned by her deceased father, but doesn't realize that it needs more work than she expected. When she meets her neighbor, Gavin Turner, Savanna wants to keep her distance, but the sexy helpful man touches her heart. Gavin has his own struggles -- his abandonment as a child, an ex who still wants a claim on him, and his attraction to Savanna despite her conflicts.

OPINION: There was much to like in this book. I really liked the suspense aspect of the story. The characters were good people and they had a nice connection with one another. My problem with the story was that there was just too much going on. Too many complications and side stories. As such, I thought that too much time was spent away from the central relationship and thus this book was just okay for me.

I thought that Gavin was a very nice man who was put in a difficult situation. I really disliked his conflict because it gave an additional level of complication to the relationship that really bothered me. Combined with Savanna still being married and having only months since discovering that her husband was a criminal, I couldn't help but think that these characters really needed to stay apart for a year or so to deal with their own baggage.

I finished this book with no problem and I liked much of the conflict, but it wasn't my favorite of the series.

WORTH MENTIONING: Readers of the series will get to see more of Eli.

CONNECTED BOOKS: RIGHT WHERE WE BELONG is the fourth book in the Silver Springs series. This book, however, can be read as a standalone as while it has some overlapping characters, the story is completely separate.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Review to be published on 10/31

This one really caught me as Savanna Gray and her two children try to do a new start to their lives. Savanna is one very strong woman who is facing more challenges than any one person should. I really admired how she worked to change her life for herself and her children. Gavin Turner was the right person at the right time. Just turns out he has problems of his own. This was a very good addition to the Silver Springs series. Savanna and Gavin are strong characters who are facing their problems head on. Savanna's problem was unique while Gavin's was not the unusual. I loved how everything worked out in the end.

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

“Right Where We Belong” (Silver Springs novel) by Brenda Novak

“Right Where We Belong,” is one of the best novels written by Brenda Novak that I have read in a long time. It is a captivating, engaging, suspenseful romance. A novel I truly enjoyed from page one straight through to the end. 

It is an addicting novel. With realistic characters that bring such realism, power and strength to the novel. Characters that you will root for, you may not appreciate, and some you may not like. They are all well written and so varied that the reader is able to see their strengths and flaws without a huge description dump by the author. 

Brenda Novak has written an interesting storyline that keeps the reader turning the page continually. The phrase “just one more chapter,” leads the reader to the end of the novel. There are several storylines based around the one major plot line, and the author writes them all well and interweaves them back and forth until they lead to the conclusion. It is one many readers will expect, but certainly does not take away from the ending. 

For romantic suspense readers of all types and those who just enjoy a good read, I recommend “Right Where We Belong” (an apt title that is fitting for every single character in the novel; a different place for each of them, but still very fitting).

Rating: 4.6
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed reading this book! All the books in this series have been fantastic, and this continued in this book! I really enjoyed meeting Savanna, and getting to know Gavin more, and watch their relationship bloom! 

Both Savanna and Gavin have problems. Savanna was married to a guy who's accused of rape, and she needed a fresh start for her and her kids. Gavin has a lady who is kinda obsessed with him, and plays games with him and another guy when it turns out she's pregnant. Sure, these issues aren't on the same level, but they are both difficulties that they have to face!  

There were a lot of cute moments in this book! Gavin with her kids, while they were cleaning up the house...they were really sweet. There were also moments that were really heart-racing, both romance and bad guys! Which was so great to read! 

The near ending was so tense! Like, she could've been discovered at any time, and what she found...yeah. I almost had to read with my eyes slightly covered, because I needed to know what would happened, but I had the instinct to protect myself from that! 

Yeah, this book was really excellent, and I can't wait for more in this series, because there's so many more characters who need to find happiness!

Despite his past, Gavin Turner is a kind and gentle man, who is willing to take a chance. Savanna Gray is a single mom, striking out on her own, who’s afraid to ever trust again.  There is a little bit of sex and a little language. I really like how the book discusses a violent topic without using actual violence. So many writers feel the need to describe events in gruesome detail, but Brenda Novak allows your imagination to do all the work.  It includes an uncomfortable topic, but it won’t leave you with nightmares. The love story takes the front stage the majority of the time.  
  I enjoyed this story so much, it was topical, and thought provoking.  It portrays everyday people, with relatable issues. The characters are well represented. They are well thought out, and stay true to their selves.   The dialog was good; no stereotyped speak, or trendy phrases.   The story has a steady flow, a natural progression that finishes with a tidy, satisfying ending. 
It is a part of a series, it does contain characters from previous books but their storylines aren’t discussed, (you won’t feel you’ve missed anything). So far I am enjoying the series and  I can’t wait for the next book!

Right Where We Belong is a suspense contemporary romance by a master of romance writing, Brenda Novak.

After realizing her husband was arrested as a rapist, Savanna takes her children and herself to her unused family land in Silver Springs. Escaping the attacks and gossip mill of the locals in Utah. The home is in extreme disrepair and if it wasn’t for her kind neighbor Gavin her initial trip across the old bridge would have ended them all the creek.

Savanna is caught between believing her husband’s innocence and the overwhelming evidence until she can no longer support his attempts to get out of prison. His dysfunctional mother is abusive to Savanna and the threats begin to accumulate from her soon to be ex-husband, Savanna doesn’t have any interest in finding a man…but she can’t help but notice Gavin.

I did find a few character choices difficult to connect with (ie. police protocol, legal and illegal actions and reactions and sometimes the complete lack of actions).

Right Where We Belong is a lighter romantic suspense. The topic matter is not light and easy, including rape and murder but the romance, suspense and overall air of the storytelling is direct and easily consumed. 

I received this ARC copy of Right Where We Belong from Harlequin - MIRA. This is my honest and voluntary review. Right Where We Belong is set for publication October 31, 2017.

My Rating: 3.5 stars
Written by: Brenda Novak
Series: Silver Springs 
Sequence in Series: Book 4
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: MIRA 
Publication Date: October 31, 2017
ISBN-10: 0778330389
ISBN-13: 978-0778330387
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/righ...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Where-Be...
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/righ...

Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com
 
11 likes

Savanna has to get her kids away from the small town that won't forgive her for the horrifying acts her husband committed. She decides to go to the old house her grandmother left her and meets her next door neighbor, Gavin. Gavin has a past he has fought hard to overcome too. Together Savanna and Gavin learn to trust again and learn that second chances are possible. Excellent book!

The review will post on 10/24.

Savanna Gray is going from loving wife and mom to single mom. Her husband's in prison for attacking three women, and she's shocked and trying to shelter her children from their dad's crimes. It's not easy in a town where everyone is blaming her for not knowing how evil he was.

Savanna packs all that she can carry, drains her money from their accounts, and heads to the rundown house her family owns. It's in need of a lot of TLC, but Savanna has no other option.

Abused and abandoned as a child, Gavin Turner spent years in a foster home that was not much better. It wasn't until he entered the New Horizons Boys Ranch that Gavin found what it really meant to be loved. When he gains a new neighbor, he senses that she's in need of her own helping hand.

It doesn't take long before sparks fly. Gavin has his own issues that keep him from wanting to commit to anything more than a brief fling. After years of being married to a man she didn't really know, Savanna is not willing to enter into a new romance either. Fighting their growing attraction may be harder than they imagined.

Strengths and Weaknesses


I truly love Brenda Novak's writing. Her settings come to life and make you want to be part of them. Her characters are so genuine and enjoyable. I found myself rooting for this couple, and I couldn't wait to see how things played out.

Right Where We Belong really tugged at the heart. I got where Savanna's insecurities stemmed from, but I was eager to see her realize that her husband was slimy. There's a bit of a mystery aspect in terms of his crimes, too, which also drew me into the story. Read it and you'll see what I mean.

RTR's Bottom Line


Right Where We Belong is another addition to the Silver Springs series. If you've missed the others, it really doesn't matter. They're all great, but you won't miss pertinent plot points by not having read them.

This is the type of book you want to save for the beach, a rainy day curled up inside, or on your lounge chair. Once you start, you won't want to put it down.

The Silver Springs series revolves around a family connected to a school for "wayward" boys in California. The head of the school is a woman who adopted several boys - each one is the MC in the books. This book features Gavin who graduated from the school and became the handyman, etc for the campus which leaves him evenings for playing and singing in local bars. He's talented and his dream is to make music his future career. 
Savanna is his new neighbor. She's just moved into the fixer-upper next door with her two young children. Her almost ex-husband is back in Utah in jail - a suspect in a serial crime spree. She was clueless when it came to his history and now just waits for the divorce papers to be signed so she can close the door on her past. 
The two become friends quickly and that relationship progresses even more quickly. But more roadblocks pop up in the form of her ex mother-in-law and his ex-girlfriend. Can Gavin and Savanna work through everything to get to a HEA? You'll have to read to find out. I enjoyed it even though it wrapped up surprisingly quickly. At this point I expect that in a Contemporary Romance. Fans of Brenda Novak and the Silver Springs series are sure to enjoy it as well. *Book provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

What do you do when your seemingly boring, normal life is turned upside down? Savanna's husband has been arrested, her and their children have been driven from town and are seeking solace at an abandoned family property in Silver Springs. 

Gavin grew up at New Horizons Boys Ranch. Now he works maintenance there while waiting to be discovered as a country singer. His house is on a usually boring dead end road. Suddenly his life will be turned around beginning with the moving van barreling toward the washed out bridge just past his driveway. 

Novak always writes stories with broken characters. They heal each other while fixing themselves. Sometimes a little dysfunction goes a long way to reset priorities and teach what really matters.

This took a bit to get into. But had to finish it. Lots of romance and a bit of mystery.

Right Where We Belong brought me right back to Silver Springs, where I followed the complicated romance between Savanna and Gavin. There was quite a bit of suspense surrounding them, and that wasn't the only thing working against them.

Gavin is my new book boyfriend!! Love this series!! Want to move to Silver Springs!!

I work as a criminal defense paralegal and one thing that most people don't think about when considering the criminal justice system is the family of the accused (or guilty).  Whether the accused is convicted or not, whether he (or she) committed the crime, the family pays a price, whether it is simply the cost of attorney fees or whether it is the loss of the loved ones presence or community censure because of the crime.

Savanna had not been thrilled with her marriage but she did her best to hold things together, for the sake of the kids.  While she initially wanted to believe the police had arrested the wrong man, the more she learned and the more she thought, the more she realized it was doubtful they had.  

They lived in a small town and she was finding herself and her children to be outcasts, even though her husband had not yet been tried, so she took the children and moved to some property she inherited in another state.  This is the story of her trying to rebuild her life and the life of her children. 

For the most part, I liked the story.  However, I found the climax scene to be very unrealistic.  

The thread that ties this story to others is a home/school for unwanted children, which is where Gavin grew up.  The story contains brief mentions of characters from prior books, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade B.

4 stars! I really enjoyed this!

It starts off with Savanna being confronted in a supermarket by a victim of her husband. Her husband is on trial on multiple rape charges. No-one can understand how she didn’t know anything. She moves to Silver Springs to get away from all of the gossip and hassle. There she meets her new neighbour Gavin, sparks fly from the beginning. 

I actually found the storyline interesting. The fact her husband was a serial rapist, the fact she believed him at first until the evidence got to be too much.  Right from the beginning you find yourself sympathising with her. I found I kept putting myself in her shoes and thinking there would be no doubt I would believe my husband innocent of these type of crimes. In hindsight for her though she realised there were signs, she just didn’t know they were.

Gavin was an interesting character. Considering his past etc I expected him to be way more messed up and he was surprisingly normal. I also kept imagining him as the actor Josh Holloway (Sawyer from Lost) which seeing as he is hot I can live with :-)

This is a romance with a splash of mystery thrown in. In this she tries to help the police with convicting her husband and then there was the love story with Gavin.
There was also a conniving ex which makes things a little more interesting.

The story and the characters were very well written. They were interesting enough to keep me engaged. I think I found the mystery part one of the most interesting. I do love me a good crime thriller romance though :-)

I found this a lot more enjoyable than the previous. It’s a nice easy uncomplicated read. Definitely recommend.
Brenda Novak is a brilliant author. My only real disappointment is that none of the characters from previous books have made a re-appearance so far.

Right Where We Belong is a story that needs to be on everyone's kindle this fall. Filled with hope and overcoming demons of the past, readers are going to devour this emotional read in one sitting. 

I adored this book. I read it in one sitting because I was invested in these characters lives and I couldn't be more pleased with how their story has turned out. I am eagerly awaiting a new book from Novak based solely on this beautiful read.

This is book 4 in the Silver Springs series but could stand on its own.  Savanna Grays world has been rocked when her husband is arrested for attacking multiple women.  People in town are not kind to her. They can't understand how she could be totally clueless about what her husband was doing. She makes the choice to leave town and go to Silver Springs, Ca.  Her Father, Mother and brother had been killed in a boating accident just months before her husbands arrest. Her Father had purchased a home that had once belonged to the family with plans to renovate it. Savannah arrives and finds the house is worse shape than she expected. Her neighbor Gavin Turner steps in to help. He is interested in Savannah, tho she is reluctant to trust a man.

This is a good contemporary romance with a bit of mystery thrown into the mix.  Savannahs children will tug at your heart strings. As usual in a romance there were factors that complicated the relationship, on both sides. I liked the character of Savannah and Gavin. Gavin was portrayed as an honorable man, but he allowed himself to be manipulated more than I liked. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This is the 4th book in the Silver Spring series. In this story Savanna is devastated after finding out her husband was arrested for raping women. Everywhere she turned in the small town in Utah she is accosted by people who thinks she should have known what her husband did. After not being able to handle the grasp of community she moves to Silver Springs in her family beat up home. As she gets there the first night she's introduce to her neighbor Gavin who lets her know the bridge that connects her to her house is washed away from the last rainfall. So starts the relationship. Gavin goes about doing alot of fixing around her home to make it livable she tells him upfront she is not interested in a romance. Though she says this Savanna becomes the first to make to move of wanting more than just friendship. Gavin is also dealing with a personal issue which has him thorn about pursuing Savanna or letting her go. Though it was not a along period of time before they got together  just seeing how both characters where searching for better in their life and wanting to triumph after many trials. We also se Savanna doing some detective work to keep her husband from coming out of jail. Lovely addition to the series and look forward to the next title. Review will be found on Goodreads and Amazon.

Brenda Novak's book "Right where We Belong" Is the story of a strong woman who has found herself married into a Crazy family. I felt the characters where well developed and the story kept me involved and interested to the last page. I really enjoyed the suspense Brenda Novak put into the book.

This is a great story, I enjoyed reading it. Everyone says "beach read" but I feel like this was a great "fall read"!