Cover Image: Crimson Roses

Crimson Roses

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Member Reviews

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

this was an interesting read for sure. i really did like the character development. The book held my interest and kept me turning the pages.
I'll definitely read more by this author.

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Wearing the invisible scars of her abduction, Pepper is now a co-owner of a prominent veterinary hospital. While working, Pepper bumps in to Roddy, her childhood best friend's brother. Roddy is now an accomplished criminal attorney. With those she loves' lives in danger, Pepper realizes that she has not fully escaped from her captor. He has only bidden his time. Will Pepper learn to trust Roddy and let him help her? Will the devious and mad captor finally triumph?

This is the first book of Ms. Thompson that I have read, and I look forward to reading more of her work. Ms. Thompson's tale of love and loss, lust and fear, and friendships and enemies is excellently written. I was completely engrossed, and I found myself mixed in with the characters and plot. She gave little tidbits here and there, but I was completely blown away by who had done it. I highly recommend this book. Thank you Ms. Thompson and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Thompson's work.

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This was an excellent novel that drew me in. The storyline was well developed and the characters were sympathetic and realistic.

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Pepper has bad memories of her past. Good memories of her friends, brother and sister.
Pepper is a veterinarian now and back to the town with good memories. She runs into her childhood best friends brother, Roddy Eastman.
Strange deaths start happening around her. I like how her friends stand by her. Her and Roddy have good chemistry. I live that he has a crazy gray cat. Recommend reading

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The book is about Pepper Chan who is a veterinarian who was abducted in the past and it seems her past has come back to haunt her. Her childhood friend and brother try to help her solve the mystery of who is hurting the people she cares about. I was looking forward to this book since it had both romance and a mystery to solve but unfortunately it did not meet my expectations.. I found the characters did not have much chemistry or emotion. I just couldn't connect with them. Pepper was stand offish and was not a likable character. Her relationships with her family and friends seemed odd. The best part about this book was the mystery of who the killer was. They kept me guessing and I had to finish the book to find out who it was. I did enjoy Kris and Detective Flores like/hate relationship and would be interested in a book with them in it.

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This was the first i have read by Tess Thompson. It won't be the last. Be sure to pick it up. I enjoyed the interaction of the characters, and found it hard to put down. Suspense and romance, my favorites!!

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Crimson Roses is a suspenseful story that will keep you turning the pages until the end. True to life characters. Lots of twists to keep you guessing.

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Crimson Roses is a well written romantic suspense.. I throughly enjoyed this entertaining murder mystery. I look forward to reading more books from this author. My thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

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Pepper Chan stepped into Exam Room one on her veterinary clinic. She recognized the boyish smile on the handsome man’s face. For a second her heart skipped a beat, she wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement she felt. The man was Roddy Eastman and he was even more attractive now than he was in HS in Angel Falls. She hoped he had forgotten her. It would save having to explain things about her past that she had tried so hard to suppress. She tried to force her confused emotions into order when he said her name. She asked how his sister Kris was. That she had thought of her often. He said Kris is great. She’d be glad to know Pepper was in Albuquerque. She asked when he moved there and Roddy said he went to UNM and after he graduated he stayed. She said she understood he acquired a new cat. Roddy said the cat acquired him. He showed up on his porch one day and has refused to leave. Than Pepper heard a tap on the door and it was her partner Barbara Ashland and she said there was a surgical emergency out there and she’d be more comfortable placing it in her hands. Pepper asked Roddy if it was okay and then he said yes and he’d tell kris and it is great seeing her again. In his truck Roddy thought back to Pepper’s haunting eyes. She had been so gorgeous when he was fifteen. She was still breathtaking . Her chinese ancestry was evident. She had been his first serious crush. Although Pepper never gave him a second look. She had moved after her senior year and he had thought about her now and again over the years. His older sister Kris was in the same grade as Pepper, maybe she knew something. He’d saved to post the down payment on the land when he’d first taken a position as a criminal defense lawyer right out of law school. A few more years of saving and some good verdicts had brought him more affluent clients who gave his bank account a much needed boost. He was able to build a cozy ranch style home in Belen. Kris’s truck was parked near the barn where she kept her two prized quarter horses. After her separation from her ex husband, Roddy had suggested she move in with him until she got back on her feet. Her SOB drunken had managed to gamble away almost everything they owned . All she had left were the horses and the truck because they were in her name before they married. After pepper’s mother died she had to move with her father. Kris and Pepper had stayed in contact until they both started college. Kris heard something bad had happened to Pepper but never knew what. Roddy loved a mystery and Pepper had piqued his curiosity.It had been close to twelve years since they had seen each other. Kris wanted to start her own P I business and move into her own place. She took the jobs she could get now and told her brother she didn’t have cushy hours. Pepper had been seeing Lance for about six months. She knew he loved her and she cared for him too but not in the same way. He was a good friend, but she couldn’t give him what he needed or wanted. Something in the back of her mind always stopped her from making a commitment. Lance was a CPA and worked as a financial planner for one of the top investment firms in the country. Then she saw crimson roses and thought Lance got them for her but he said no they were on her steps with a card. Every time Pepper thought she made it into the sunlight, her murky past would cover the sky with dark clouds. She wanted to avoid conversation with Roddy. She had a feeling that there was much more to Roddy than anyone could see on the surface. She was afraid if she let him in, she would reveal her closely guarded secrets. Her neighbor Fred came across the street to say hello. It had become a frequent unwelcome occurrence and it always gave her a creepy feeling. She had her purse and keys on the table next to lance’s, when she noticed the vase of flowers had been moved to a prominent place. One of the roses had been moved next to the card which had said sorry for your loss. She was drawn to an object from behind her kitchen aisle. A man’s running shoe. A scream escaped Pepper, red blood from the slash across Lance’s throat pooled on her tiled floor. Pepper sat on her front porch while the police and the forensic team went in and out of her house. The Police questioned her than she saw Kris and roddy walk up the sidewalk. Pepper said she was sorry she didn’t know who else to call. Pepper was scared someone had killed a man in her house, someone she cared about. The person had been inside her house and left her flowers. After becoming an adult Pepper had acquired many acquaintances but few friends. Even though they've lost touch Kris had always been there for Pepper and she knew Roddy was a successful criminal lawyer. Pepper had lost her father three weeks ago. The day her father died someone had sent her crimson roses to the clinic with a card saying sorry for your loss before she even had been contacted that her father was dead. Just like before Lance was murdered. Roddy told her what Krois had found out. She learned that several years ago hunters had found Pepper suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. The police discovered her abandoned car in the woods outside of madrid. She had bruises and lacerations on her wrists and ankles from being restrained and God knows what else. She asked how they knew that, she was pretty sure it wasn’t in the Albuquerque papers and why was it any of their business? Roddy asked her if she thought it had something to do with what had happened to Lance. Pepper said no one in Albuquerque knows about what happened to her. She had been a college student. The information from the investigation was never released to the public. Pepper said she just couldn’t talk about what happened to her. She got a text from her Uncle Bo saying he needed to talk to her who lived in her father’s guest house. He was a retired veteran. She didn’t really know her uncle even though he was only a dozen years older than her . He came back to the US from Afghanistan and his discharge from the Army to seek his brother- Al’s- help. She knew from her father along with physical scars he had PTSD. this is a great thriller . I loved it. I loved the : action,suspense, danger, and romance in this book. I didn’t want to put it down., only did when I had to. The plot and pace was fantastic. I loved the ending. I loved Roddy and pepper together and how they interacted. I love the relationship Kris and Pepper were starting to regrow. I loved how strong Pepper was to escape and free herself from the cabin and than Kane. My attention was grabbed right from the beginning and kept until the very last page. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

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Well developed plot. Definitely kept my interest until the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a suspenseful, twist read.

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Title: Crimson Roses
Author: Tess Thompson
Publisher: T. T.
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"Crimson Roses" by Tess Thompson

My Rationalization:

After reading 'Crimson Roses' I am so glad my favorite color of roses are white and yellow! I never knew that the dark crimson roses are used mainly at funerals that meaning 'sadness and mourning.' I found this story very sad about how long-time friends meet up again. We find Roddy being a criminal offense lawyer, Kris [his sister] being a private eye and the other one their friend, Pepper who was a veterinarian who had moved back to Albuquerque, New Mexico. All three had been childhood friends at one time. How they meet up was due to a cat called 'Devil Cat' that belonged to Roddy who had been taken to the veterinary clinic. The story will pick up from there where we find Pepper who will be in the need of help due to a death. This is where the play of the crimson Roses' comes into the story. Be ready for a little bit of it all in the mystery read from 'some humor, death, suspense, kidnapping, murder mystery, romance, a stalker, trust issues to many twists and turns' that you will definitely have to keep up with it all. We find that Pepper who had trust issues is still healing from her being kidnapped many years ago. I really liked how these authors were able to give the reader a storyline that brings it all together in the end because I wasn't aware of who this person really was until toward the end that all tied into Pepper's kidnapping. And can you believe it all started from Pepper receiving 'Crimson Roses.'

Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.

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An engaging page turner. A little romance. Some suspense. A murder mystery. All is not as it appears. Flowers, a cat, a horse, and so much more.

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