Rattlesnake Road is the first book in a new series by Amanda McKinney. This is the first book I've read from her and I'm a little on the fence about it. It's the story of Grey Dalton, a successful online fashion magazine creator. She's in an unhappy marriage with a cheating husband. A couple of things happen and she basically hits rock bottom so on a whim she buys a house online, leaves her husband, and makes an attempt to start over.

The story started out impressively dark. I enjoyed the first half of the book watching Grey be so self-destructive. Seeing how her behaviors and regret affected her. But at about 60% of the way through the book turned a little and things became too easy for her and I started to nitpick my way through the book and things I could have forgiven started to bother me.

There were several things that didn't make sense to me. One of the conflicts in the story is between the residents around her property and a developer, Lucas, that wants to buy the property and build a hotel. The guy knocks on her door and makes her an offer her first morning there. Ummm.. the house was for sale for 8 years.... where were you during that time? Grey bought the house online and closed on it in a matter of about 48 hours. It didn't make sense.

There is also her neighbor, Declan, who has a bit of history and some issues that once they were presented were glossed over a little too quickly for my comfort. He's the main love interest, but she frankly exhibits some behaviors that I would red flag immediately.

The other thing that had me rolling my eyes was how Grey could come up with an idea, buy the 'kit', learn how to make a product that actually requires some science knowledge, have a full-blown product launch, and have someone offer to buy her business IN A 6 MONTH PERIOD!

Normally I would blow over these little details on the way to the HEA thinking it was romantic fantasy, but as I stated previously this book started out realistically dark, sad, and thought-provoking, then about midway through it lost its grit and it lost me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Multiple adultery by her husband, a medically induced miscarriage of her unsurvivable child, and her alcoholic dependency all lead to some spoken truths when receiving an award for her job.

Too bad that she's fired from that job and her life implodes.

She purchases a cabin in the vicinity of where she grew up, that comes with its own mysterious secrets and challenges, as she starts to carve a new life for herself.

A murderer caught and prosecuted, sobriety, a good guy, a new career and lots of genuine friends are some of the discoveries in her new life's journey.

With a happy ever after ending in this romantic story of love, tragedy, torment, commitment and everlasting happiness..

I really enjoyed this book and it's my first time reading anything this author has written, so I'm happily going to check out her back list. Rattlesnake Road is a well written romance with a hint of suspense. Grey moves to a creepy old house near in an isolated country town and she battles her own personal demons throughout.

There's an old murder mystery, the possibility of a haunting and a charming real estate developer that keeps appearing, trying to purchase Grey's property. The first few chapters involve Grey only and how she copes with the ending of her ten year marriage and a miscarriage - it's addictive reading. The entire story is told from her POV. Our hero, Declan, doesn't enter the picture until around 40% into the story. However, this is a pretty long book and their slow burn romance fits perfectly within the last 60%. Full of drama and possible triggers for some.

My thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in return for my opinion and I recommend this book for lovers of romance. Publication date is April 2021. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

WARNINGS; Graphic miscarriage at the beginning, alcoholism, car crash, divorce

Rattlesnake Road is about Grey Dalton who has been through a lot, to say the least, and ends up moving from New York all the to Rattlesnake Road. There, while struggling with being at rock bottom and renovating a very worn down cabin, she meets two men- a cowboy and a businessman.

This romance definitely has some mystery and thrill to it but I found that at times I didn't know what genre the book wanted to be. Did it want to be a murder mystery? A horror? I wasn't sure and it didn't hit the mark with me sadly.

Rating: 2.5⭐
Would I Read It Again? Not sure
Would I Recommend it? Yes

This is definitely not one of your typical romances. This one actually has some substance behind it.

After the repeated cheating of her husband, the loss of her unborn child due to miscarriage, losing her job to due a drunken speech telling the truth of how all the woman around her got further along faster by sleeping their way up the career chain, and using alcohol to dull the pain of everything Grey has had enough. At 31 Grey is brave enough to start the process of divorcing her husband, leaving her whole world in New York with only 5 bags of luggage and her BMW.

She drives over 20 hours stopping only twice, while detoxing no less, to Berry Springs where she bought a fixer upper online to live in and hopefully start again because she promised her cousin she'd move there if she ever left her life in New York. There she runs into Lucas, a hottie who I can only describe as a snake oil salesman with all sorts of warning signs for woman to stay away from. But when Grey falls off the wagon, he seems to be the one who's there to take advantage of her. Repeatedly.

So it's refreshing when Declan finally comes onto the scene, agreeing to fix Grey's cracked oil pan in exchange for dinner. Declan has his own checkered past and seems to recognize that Grey might need some help. Almost 10 years her senior, he seems to know what rock bottom looks and feels like. Bless the man though, he has a good set of morals he lives by. So he decides to help Grey, both with her house, her car and getting her life back together.

Now what I really like about this book is how Grey's personal struggles really come to play throughout the whole book. It's not some cheap tool to move the plotline along. It IS the plotline. This whole book is driven by Grey's internal struggle against herself and her desire to clean up her life and live it to the fullest. The poor lady has some serious issues and the author does a pretty good job having her address them and struggle against them. Relapses are a really thing.

Declan, attracted to her from the start, just wants to help her as best he knows how. He knows a fair bit too, thanks to his past experience. He's her ex deus machina, recognizing what she needs before she even realizes she needs it, like a professional to talk to about past issues. He helps her with her house, and even when they fight, he comes back when he knows she'll probably need him, without her asking.

Etta, the neighbor down the road, is a great character too, btw. She is this combination of a good friend and a cheeky grandmother that swears and provides some much needed lightness to the plot. Otherwise I would have to describe this book as borderline heavy. But Amanda McKinney strikes the perfect balance of darkness and lightness that brings a hopefully feeling to the book.

This is a beautiful second chance romance between Grey & Declan. Grey has left behind a life of luxury, and a cheating husband, she has been fired from her job and has suffered through a miscarriage which triggered her out of control drinking. Declan is a former wild child and talk of the town, now just trying to run his garage and keep out if trouble, likes to fix things. As Grey starts to renovate her newly purchased run down cabin, her new neighbour can't help but chip in advice and labour in addition to helping Grey work on herself. Instant chemistry with these two and both their characters were well written. This is a new to me author and I will be reading more of her work.

Amanda McKinney’s first book in the Small-Town Mystery Romance series, Rattlesnake Road, is one long intense ride from start to finish. Intertwined with the darkness and despair of a mystery and Grey’s stumbles of shedding of her old life and embracing a new one, is the journey of discovery and to a HEA that Grey and Declan take. With the quintessential quirky small town characters and charm, this story leaves an impact and a need for more from the series.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.