Cover Image: Don't Close Your Eyes

Don't Close Your Eyes

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Member Reviews

I loved the characters and the storyline development of this book. It was absolutely one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to delve in to the next one that this author writes. The storyline was simple, enjoyable, and entertaining.

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Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

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Super solid story. Steady paced and dialogue driven. I enjoyed the build of the story and loved the romance that blossomed on top of the mystery! Very good balance.

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The premise of this book was predictable and familiar. It wasn't a bad book, but was a quick read and not very intriguing.

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Very good Romantic Suspense! Loved balance on romance and suspense...not so much of either that the other got lost. Enjoyed the story and characters. Found the end a little disappointing, as not all loose threads were tied up; not all questions answered. But the writing style was good and the hero and heroine got their happy-for-now ending, which I liked.

*Note: This story was filled with A LOT of typos and errors. I realize it was an ARC, but it should have been at least partially edited by this stage. Couldn't tell if the author was messy and needs to work on her writing or if it hadn't been edited nearly as well as it needed to be. These were simple corrections and mistakes that should not have been overlooked, even before releasing as an ARC for early reviews.

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was a gripping thriller that took you to every aspect of trying to figure out what was really going on and what was going to happen next! This was such an amazing book and I can’t wait to see what else is released from this author!

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received in exchange for a honest review.

My first time reading Christie Craig and I can say I would like to read more from this series. I liked that we were looking at cold cases and have this set of detectives who are flawed and real working hard to get justice for those who many forget. These detectives have demons that haunt them but they use this as fuel to get justice and are good at it. Especially the main character in this book Mark.

Mark has guilt up the wazoo.Good honest guy. He is also good at finding things that others don’t see. His perspective is different than others and he is able to work out things others could not and have not. It comes at a toll to him though and he does drink to deal. When Annie comes to him with her dream he is hesitate at first. Soon though he is all in and his attraction for Annie also is all in. He sees how crazy and dangerous her family is and he wants to protect her. At the same time he is working on this issue, he has another case going on and he is wanted on a live murder. Those he tries to stay away from. You feel for him because he is a great guy but doesn’t feel he deserves happiness or a break because of what happened years ago. He tells others what he needs to listen to for himself.

Annie is a strong character. She was loved by her parents but her mom loses her way. She doesn’t really stand by her daughter as she deals with her nightmares and a night long ago begins to resurface in her mind. It was sad to see how her mom and her’s relationship got that chasm and why. As Annie is dealing with her past and falling in love she is also trying to deal with her mom and the pain with her not being there for her . By the time she is it is almost too late.

Annie and Mark have sparks that sizzle. They try to ignore it but can’t and when they get together we see some serious spark. But both have demons. It’s how they deal with the demons that is different. Mark is afraid to face his but in the end decides Annie is his bright light and he needs this. His love for her transcends his guilt and he makes a decision that just has you smile.

the story is intriguing. Filled with danger, romance and a truly dysfunctional and wacky family. The story of Annie and her past draws you in and the romance keeps you with the characters because you want to see how they overcome the hurdles they face and you want to watch Mark protect Annie and find out who is doing this to her.

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I really enjoyed this book, Sutton was a favorite of mine even if he was a surly smartass.

I felt for Annie, misunderstood and so very kind. I love a book when damaged souls find peace and love. I’m a softy.

Plus her family was nuts! I’m so looking forward to the next book in this series. These men in the cold case group are very cool. It’s been a long time since I have read this author and now I’m wondering why.

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DNF 50%

I tried, honestly I did because the blurb had me interested.

However, there were so many characters it was hard to keep them straight. The constant back and forth between crimes was too much. I would have preferred the book to just focus on Annie's past and not the current crime.

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Review **REVIEWED BY KATIE**
Don't let my rating scare you off from this book! I did really enjoy this book, and I was constantly trying to sneak in a few pages while I was at work. I am very picky about my romantic suspense, and while most others would rate this book higher, there were some very small details that made me rate this book the way I did.

Both of the main characters were a hot mess. This can really lead to a great growing together type of story, but the growth was just not there for me. The hero had some personal issues that stemmed from a childhood trauma. While I can definitely see how the events could lead a person to have a messy adult life, it was difficult to watch the hero try and fail to battle his demons.

The heroine was battling her own demons, but she was putting forth a valiant effort at dealing with them. She starts to remember a childhood dream, and struggles to determine fact from fiction. Then there is her entire extended family. So many secrets, lies and abuse, it's a wonder the entire family hasn't been institutionalized.

All of the above is typically my jam. I seek these broken people and crazy shenanigans out when I read. I did really like the characters and the way the story played out. But as my rating shows, there were some obvious dislikes I had with the book. The big one was the overuse of cheesy lines in the book. It detracted from my appreciation of the plot and story development. My other issue was the lack of faith of the hero in the heroine. While I admit her story was a hard one to believe, I firmly believe in the fact that when you find your person, you stand with them and believe them, and I didn't like his lack of trust and faith in her story.

Overall, I was invested in the story, and appreciated the authors ability to keep me guessing on the plot points, and I did enjoy reading the book.

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I’ve enjoyed Christie Craig’s romantic comedies and her young adult series, written as C.C. Hunter, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Don’t Close Your Eyes. I liked Don’t Close Your Eyes, but it took me a few chapters to adjust to it being romantic suspense, without any of Ms. Craig’s LOL factor in it. This is a much more serious book than any by her that I’ve read. It’s not a bad thing; it’s me getting my head in the right space thing.

When Annie Lakes goes to a funeral of an uncle she doesn’t really know she realizes that her reoccurring nightmare isn’t just something her mind made up, it’s actually pieces of memory from her childhood. Faced with the fact that her parents have kept a secret from her she takes her concerns to cold case detective Mark Sutton. Once her family finds out she is having her cousin’s disappearance looked into Annie becomes a target and knows something really bad happened and that someone in her family will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. Mark Sutton reluctantly takes on Annie’s case, he doubts that her nightmares are accurate but he can’t deny the attraction he feels for Annie. Mark and Annie are drawn to each other; they both have personal issues they need to come to terms with that hold them back from committing to more than the sexual attraction they have. They think they are doing a good job of keeping their emotions for each other from growing but find that it’s impossible to ignore the feelings.

The suspense in Don’t Close Your Eyes kept me interested, there is not one, but two cold cases that Mark and his partners are investigating. Both of which I didn’t figure out who did it until it was time to reveal it. I liked Mark and Annie but I didn’t fall in love with them, I felt Mark had a lot more work to do when it came to his past and his drinking. Annie, I liked a little more than Mark. I honestly needed them to have more page time together, working on their issues and “seeing” them fall in love. I came away from DCYE feeling like a read suspense with romantic elements more than a romantic suspense book. There are some interesting secondary characters that I hope to see more of.

Don’t Close Your Eyes is an interesting story that will keep you turning the pages to find out “whodunnit.”

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Since she was a kid Annie has suffered from the sand recurring nightmare .When she attends a funeral on her estranged mom’s family’s side realizes that all that she saw in her nightmare was actually true . When Annie was a little girl she witnessed her cousin Jenny’s murder and saw somebody disposing of the body. Not sure where to start investigating she seeks help from the dark handsome Detective Mark Sutton who is fighting his own demons.

This is the first book on the Texas Range series by Christie Craig . I am usually used to reading more if her humorous books do this romantic suspense was a nice surprise . A lot of mystery and a little romance makes this a quick entertaining read.

I would like to thank Forever (Grand Central Publishing) & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

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3.5 Stars - rounded up. This is the first romantic suspense I've read by Christie Craig (although I have read and enjoyed her humorous contemporary romances). There were some things I really enjoyed about this book and a few that I thought could have been better.

I really liked both Annie and Mark and the mystery definitely hooked me from the beginning. Both MC's are flawed and have demons that they are fighting. I think Annie was actually dealing with/battling hers better than Mark who wasn't dealing at all except through alcohol. I liked the connection between the two MC's although I wish they hadn't gotten together quite as quickly as they did. I think a more slow progression would have worked a bit better with this plot and the characters themselves. I found the secondary characters intriguing and Annie's family was just a hot mess of suspects. I would have liked to see a bit more character growth from Mark although he did get there towards the end of the book. I think my biggest issue was that I found the "answer" to the mystery a bit disappointing. I expected more and I had a hard time believing Annie's parents actions since I thought the issues that her nightmares and inability to remember where worse than any issues she would have had from knowing the truth. I wish the unsolved murder would have been a bit more dramatic.

However, overall I enjoyed the book and the suspense sucked me and kept me reading. I also really liked the two secondary detectives in the unsolved crimes team and the concept behind the team. I will definitely plan to read the next book in the series.

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Annie recurring nightmares seems to be worsening over times and its really impacted her life. There are so much family secrets and things that don't add up that make Annie question if it really is all just a dream. She doesn't seem like the most stable or reliable person to report a disappearance that she believes shes witness but at least she tried. Detective Mark is on the case known for solving cold cases but he'll do what he can to help Annie out.

This had everything I love in a good romantic suspense novel and it pretty much kept me hooked from start to end. Now that its nearing the end of the summer and fall will be here soon I'm getting into a mystery, suspense, romance type of book and this book really did it for me. I loved the family secrets and wondering how can you really trust. There were things would pop up about the Annie that would make her seem completely unreliable because of her past and the dreams leaved the readers questioning if those dreams had basis and it was interesting seeing how things progressed in the book for her character. Then there was the romance element of the book which made things a bit problematic for the two love birds because hes the lead detective sleeping with Annie which can be a conflict of interest. I loved how well written this book was and how there was never a dull moment. Overall a pretty great book I really enjoyed it!

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a bit twisted, which i like! a page-turner of a story with a lot of action and drama as theist unfolds to give one woman a new future.

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Don't Close Your Eyes was a fun and easy to read mystery. The main character Annie has been haunted by dreams from her childhood of a girl ( a cousin) being buried in the dirt. Her family claims that this event never happened. At the start of the novel, Annie's starting to have dreams again and realizes that there is some grain of truth in her dreams but why would her family lie to her all these years? Enter the handsome and jaded cop, Mark, who works cold cases. Although he already has his hands full with another cold case, he starts to investigate for Annie. Of course- there is the undeniable romantic tension between the two. The book follows the course of the investigation as well as their romance. My only complaint is that when the actual mysteries of the novel are solved, they are not that surprising or complex. I like a bit more layers to my mystery novels so that I get that true "Aha!!" moment. This is a nice light mystery/romance novel

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This author has been a favorite of mine for laugh-out-loud funny romantic comedy so I was eager to read an early copy of this book since it was something different than I was used to reading from her. The suspense and mystery gave the book a more somber tone, but the romance was still captivating and emotional, with her trademark humor peeking through.

Mark Sutton is a detective who has been demoted to the cold case unit due to unprofessional behavior. With each case, especially those involving children, he loses another small piece of his soul. His routine is work, take his dog for a run, work, grab coffee at the local coffee shop, and more work. After a family gathering shakes more details of her recurring nightmare loose, Annie Lakes walks into Mark's office to discuss a possible murder from over two decades ago, and Mark realizes she's the beautiful woman he sees regularly at his coffee shop. As Mark begins to investigate, the attraction between them grows and their lives become tangled together.

From the first page, Craig's talent for crafting a story quickly drew me in and kept me glued to the page. These characters were so authentic and humanly flawed that they easily made a place for themselves in my heart. Their struggle, pain and uncertainty were realistic and genuine, and I felt every emotion along with them.

After a tragic personal event Mark feels like he doesn’t deserve happiness, and his colorless days are spent trying to make up for one mistake. Annie has brought her life back from complete devastation and finally found her footing, only to realize her mother has been lying to Annie her entire life. Feeling betrayed and alone, she’s drawn to Mark's strength. Annie's kindness, goodness pure heart bring light to Mark's darkness, give his heart new life and help his soul mend.

If you like romantic suspense with a riveting storyline, a little heat and humor, and a story full of heart, you’ll love this book by this masterful storyteller.

*I reviewed this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source for this review.

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*I recieved a free advance copy of the book in return for an honest review.

The story is an enjoyable romance/mystery book with some interesting twists. The main character starts to remember bits and pieces of something traumatic from her childhood that shows her that the people closest to her have been lying all her life. Like most books of this genre there is the handsome irresistible leading man (who just happens to be single) with lots of emotional baggage of his own.

The intrigue is decent. However, there are quite a few supporting characters sprinkled in that sometimes leave you trying to recall who is who. There are also some grammatical errors that will hopefully be corrected before the book hits the shelves. All in all, it is a good light story that you can whip right through on a rainy day.

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This was a different story and tone than I expect from Ms. Craig but I enjoyed it. An interesting story about two damaged people that find each other with enough suspense to move the plot forward.

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I am a huge fan of Christie Craigs books. I love everything she writes (even her young adult books C.C. Hunter), I was a little concerned about reading this, since I usually go for more humor with my mysteries, but this was so engaging and all of the characters were so well written that I just couldn't put the book down and devoured it in one sitting. I can't wait to see where this series goes.

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