Former homicide detective Jack King, now a security expert, is a typical Harlequin alpha through and through; the quiet hero with a dark past filled with anger, bitterness, and betrayal. Having left his hometown of Pine Lake, TX, 15 years ago because of the town's false accusations, he has returned 15 years later after receiving some strange phone calls from his former high school buddies who hint that some of the details around his high school girlfriend's death may be true.

He is instantly drawn into another murder which takes him down memory lane and makes him perceive the town with prejudicial eyes. The discovery of the body also reintroduces him to Olive Belmont, the cousin of Nathan, his former best friend.

Olive sleepwalks, which is how she ends up at the scene of the murder. Jack saves her life and Olive's former teenage crush comes roaring back to life.

A great mystery romance with excellent pacing - 4 Stars!

A good suspense book from a great author.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: While I feel the suspense of this book was top notch I would have loved for the book to be longer. A longer book would have been really able to capitalize on the feeling of suspense. The length of book is pretty typical of a category romance and in most cases it always leaves me wanting more. This book in particular I wanted the romance to have more time to develop naturally as well as wanting longer suspense. The book takes place in a matter of days so a viable romance really doesn't have time to develop but luckily there wasn't insta-love. Yes the characters had a connection but thankfully there were no I Love You's at the end. So that was a plus for me.

The mystery part was expected but with a twist so I liked it quite a bit but would have liked a more hidden motive rather than the one explained. There were also a couple episodes of a sleepwalking incidents that felt off to me. I don't know a lot about sleepwalking but I did have a friend who did sleepwalk who said she had to have a lock on her bedroom door because while she was a sleepwalking she was unable to have the dexterity to unlock doors. Of course sleepwalking could be highly different from one person to another. As I said, I don't know a lot about it.

The characters could have been fleshed out more but there is a basic understanding of both Jack and Olivia and what makes them tick. I liked Olivia but found she was a bit of a Mary Sue. I also liked Jack but his complexity was just glossed over. Stevens gave us just a taste of what Jack was all about and, not to beat a dead horse....where did that saying come from anyway?....it's pretty morbid, but had there been the option of a longer book Jack might have ended up worth of Book Boyfriend status.

In a Nutshell: This was a good book on the verge of being great. This author knows her stuff and is really capable of penning a thrilling book. This is my first book by her but not my last as I have tons of her Intrigues on my shelf.

Overall 3.5 Stars

Pine Lake is the first novel I recall reading by this author, and it was a very nice introduction to her work. More mystery than romantic suspense, it certainly kept me guessing until the very end and I give it 4.5 stars.

The hero, Jack King, is back in his hometown after 15 years away. During that time he's been, among other things, a homicide detective, and he's now working for an international security firm. He left Pine Lake after being falsely accused of killing his beloved girlfriend, Anna, but even after her killer was found, tried and convicted, he was still treated like a pariah in his hometown. After graduating from high school he left Pine Lake behind and moved on. When two of his old high school friends, Nathan Bolt and Tommy Driscoll, phone him out of the blue, each accusing the other of lying about their alibis for the night Anna was murdered, Jack's interest is piqued as to why his two friends lied under oath, and, since his uncle recently passed away and left Jack his cabin on Pine Lake, he returns to the town that still thinks he got away with murder to find out why.

No sooner does Jack return to Pine Lake when he witnesses a young woman's body being dumped into the lake in the middle of the night, just as Anna's was, but he also discovers Nathan's younger cousin, Olive Belmont, sound asleep on the bridge truss--she's always been a sleepwalker, and that habit has kept her returning to the old bridge repeatedly through the years. Jack rescues her from her precarious position, and calls the police about the dead body in the lake--both circumstances pulling him headlong into another police investigation of this new murder, reawakening 15-year-old suspicions about his possible involvement in Anna's murder, the mystery of what Olive saw or didn't see at the scene of both murders, the lies and motives behind Tommy and Nathan's lies, and a slowly developing romance between himself and Olive, who is just about to step into her role as the new high school principal.

There are also attempts on Olive's life, as well as Jack's, many secrets to be uncovered, and no shortage of possible suspects in this novel. The author's skillfully crafted and adept descriptions of the hot, steamy, swampy setting, created an excellent backdrop to the mysterious tone and atmosphere of this gripping whodunit of a novel.

My only issue with this novel is the ending. Since, as stated previously, there is a very slowly budding romance between Jack and Olive, the denouement is handled in very short order, the murders solved, and the barely-there romance between these two characters goes from not to hot far too quickly considering the slow and steady pace of the rest of the novel. However, that doesn't take much away from what was an otherwise excellent and well-written mystery novel.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Sorry but I found nothing was flushed out in this story (not the plot, romance or characters) and it lost my interest halfway through.

A classic who-done-it! With multiple people acting suspiciously, we're on the hunt for the true culprit from beginning to end. There's not a huge amount of romance to the story, but the characters are really easy to connect with, and I enjoyed them both from the start. With a lot of subterfuge, it's a fun read as we go back and forth trying to figure out who is looking more guilty than the next!

Security expert Jack King left his hometown of Pine Lake, Texas behind 15 years ago, but the trauma and loss he experienced before he left continues to haunt him to this day. His high school girlfriend was murdered ... a beautiful, fun-loving spirit who deserved a warm and fulfilling life ... and the whole town thought he did it!

Recent events have brought Jack back to town to figure out what's really going on in Pine Lake. He's received calls from his so-called former best friends, both shining light on the other's actions and possible deception. Just after arriving, he runs across Olive Belmont in a very dangerous situation. He puts himself out there to help her, and as new things come to light it appears her sleepwalking habit might have had her subconsciously witnessing two murders!

Its been 15 years since the murder of his girlfriend and Jack a scrutiny expert now is back to his old home town after some strange phone calls from his old friends. Just when he enters his home town he manages to come upon a dead body oddly similar situation to the one of his ex. Olive is a sleepwalker and has managed to be present at both crimes found sleeping near where the body is disposed of. Both of the two have some type of connection going on and they'll stick together while Jack tries to find out more information about whats going on before he's accused of killing this girl this time.

Geez I must of tried writing that description at leave 4 times before I settles on the one that currently posted. I love a good mystery, I loved that this book had enough clues to the readers pointing fingers at who they think is the true killer. I have to say that I was suspicious of at least 3 to 4 people throughout this book and still managed to be semi-surprised of who it was in the ending. I loved that even though there was that connection between the two main characters their romance didn't over power this book it was more mystery then anything. I really enjoyed this book it was something I could escape into for a couple of hours and I liked it.

I can see one my favorite author trying to do something different from "The graveyard's queen" series and almost failing at it, because some pieces and bits were still pretty scary for a romance, even if it is an "intrigue" one. The story is also not bad and the couple is good, but I will forever miss the scary books she used to write, even if she started with romance I also think it's too late for her to go back ;)

Posso anche apprezzare lo sforzo che ha fatto una delle mie autrici preferite (The graveyard queen series) di tornare al romance senza troppi drammi - anche se questo fa parte della serie intrigue- m mi sembra che abbia anche fallito perché questo libro aveva dei pezzi francamente paurosi! La coppia regge, ma non mi dispiacerebbe che l'autrice mollasse definitivamente il romance per tornare a fare quello che le riesce meglio!

I'm a big fan of The Graveyard Queen Series, so jumped at the chance to read a new book by this author. Pine Lake was an intriguing romantic suspense that features Jack King and Olivia Belmont. The murder of his high school girlfriend has haunted Jack, and now a new murder has taken place. Olivia, who sleepwalks, seems to have been an inadvertent witness to both murders. She may be the killer's next target, and Jack is determined to keep her safe while finding the killer.

Great characters, an interesting storyline, and a good balance of romance and suspense made this a book to enjoy!

The story arc for this book was intriguing. A bitter and disheartened man is called back to his home town, whether for revenge or redemption is yet to be seen. An innocent, caught in the cross hairs is trying to find her own balance in a town whose very essence is shifting like the tide. Both are swept up into a drama that neither could imagine, but if they hold on to each other they won't be lost.

Pine Lake is a suspenseful and intriguing look into small town murders and how it affects the lives of everyone in it from the boy accused of murder so long ago to the man back after 15 years to find answers.
Jack King is lured back to Pine Lake for various reasons but his reason for going back is to try to solve the murder of his high school girlfriend. Secrets and intrigue abounds as Jack falls back into the rhythm of small town life and a discovery his first night back rocks the small town. I liked Jack. He's suffered a lot in the earlier years of his life and he has had a lot to overcome. I found him to be quite closed off emotionally and very unreadable. He's still carrying so much anxiety and regret from his past but he tries not to think about it. However, it also means he's not connecting with the people around him and he doesn't allow many people to get close to him. He has very few people who care about him and very few people he cares about. It's a wonder he connected with Olive and let her in.
I had a hard time pinning down Olive as a character. She seemed rather bland and basic as a character to me even though she seemed to have a few quirks and quickly became a fixture in Jack's time back at Pine Lake. The two of them are connected through a mutual decision to keep some secrets between them from there their relationship grows. Olive's teenage crush on Jack takes on a much more adult spin as she gets to know the man.
Honestly, neither Jack nor Olive flew off the page at me. I would have liked to see Jack and Olive's characters fleshed out a bit more but the mystery of Anna's murder and solving a few other crimes and incidents happening along the way kept me turning the pages.
This is my first Harlequin Intrigue and I had no real expectations of what it would be like. I think it's a good blend of suspense and romance though the romantic in me would have liked more romance. I think it's about 50/50 in the split between suspense and romance. It also ends in a Happy For Now (which makes sense based on the brief amount of time Jack and Olive spend together) and the traditionalist in me wants a Happy Ever After. All that considered, it was a satisfying read. If any take my fancy, I think I will try other Intrigue titles.

I enjoyed this book. I have read everything that Amanda Stevens has written and have loved them all. Very good mystery and I love her characters

Full review to be published online in the late September review cycle.

PINE LAKE is an intriguing mystery where PI and Security expert Jack King has returned to his hometown of Pine Lake, after leaving many years before due to the murder of his girlfriend. A new and similar murder has brought him back to face his painful past. Old secrets are bubbling to the surface; and the sleepwalking witness to both the murders, Olive Belmont, has moved to the top of the murderers list of targets.

PINE LAKE is a nice category romantic suspense story by author Amanda Stevens. At this point, it looks to be a standalone read, and not a series. Recommended read for fans of the author if the “Graveyard Queen” series and of small town mysteries.