Catherine Cowles is my favorite author and this book is another reminder of just how much I adore her!

Thank you to NetGalley and of course Catherine for this ARC!

Ridley is a true crime podcaster investigating a case similar to her sister’s disappearance. She’s brought her van and investigating skills to a small town where another girl was taken, but escaped. Emerson escaped her captor, but has been agoraphobic since. Her brother, the local sheriff, isn’t happy Ridley is in town.

Colt has not healed since his sister’s incident and has always felt the need to protect her. When he discovers Ridley’s true reasons for investigating, he learns she’s not trying to make money from Emerson’s story. There’s a little grovel! But someone doesn’t want Ridley discovering the true story behind the missing girls, and they’ll show her exactly what they’re capable of!

This was amazing and if you’re looking for romantic suspense with spice, Catherine is always the right choice!

I’ve read over a dozen Catherine Cowles books and this one stood out! It’s everything you know and love from her other series but with a fresh perspective and elevated stakes. The true crime podcast angle absolutely paid off! I’m really hoping the rest of the series follows the true crime theme!

I fall more in love with Catherine Cowles’s writing with each book I read. I love the stories she brings to life and the characters that have vice grips on our hearts.

I loved Ridley and Colt together. The push and pull between them and how much they wanted to keep each other at arms length but they couldn’t. Ridley brought up all these feelings and emotions that Colt has just had to shoulder for years and he hates her for it but at the same time he knows she’s healing him. Colt rubbed Ridley the wrong way from their first interaction and put his foot in his mouth a few more times but she couldn’t resist the draw of him- not because he hold the key to her case but because of him and the presence he emits into her life.

I loved the true crime podcaster angle and the setting of Shady Cove plus the townsfolk that Ridley befriends. The way they rallied behind Ridley (and Colt) just showed how good of a heart she has even if she might have ruffled a few of their feathers in the beginning. I would love to get Emerson’s story because if there’s ever been a character who deserves a happily ever after before it’s definitely her and I know a certain brother’s best friend who would be the perfect match.


Thank you @cathercowlesauthor @sourcebookscasa and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

✩5

✦What to Expect✦
•Romantic suspense
•She’s a true crime podcast host
•Enemies to lovers
•He’s the town Sheriff
•He calls her “Chaos”
•She calls him “Law man”
•Grumpy x sunshine
•3 legged feline friends

✦Characters✦
•Ridley Bennett
•Colt Brooks
 
✦Fav Quotes✦
“Don’t be greedy, Chaos.”
“I love being greedy,”
“It’s how you get what you want.”

“We’d be playing with fire.”
“Then let’s watch it burn.”

“Colt, you helped me find all the missing pieces. Even the ones I didn’t realize I needed.”

I’d gotten the privilege of loving Avery for twenty-two years in this life and forever in the next.

✦Thoughts✦
Omg I l couldn’t put this down and ending up reading in one sitting! I was so invested in the story & the mystery right away.

I was on the edge of my seat trying to guess who dun it, and I never saw that reveal coming. That ending had my heart pounding!! This was the ultimate romantic suspense book!

Colt & Ridley were so great together! The tension between them!? I was eating it up, I loved watching them come together.

Tater and her “tooth hugs” had me laughing. All I kept picturing was Ridley saying “tis but a scratch” like in Monty Python.

So excited about this series bc loved this town and all the side characters!

Apologies to Broken Harbor on its short-lived reign as my favorite Catherine Cowles book. It’s already been replaced by this one.

I’m a true crime podcast/tv consumer through and through, so books that include that element are always going to call to me. There is a curiosity to how it’s going to be handled because in reality, there is such a thin line between respectful and thoughtful production and exploiting pain and suffering caused by the darkness in the world for the sake of “entertainment”. It is handled so well in this book. Ridley is the ideal kind of podcaster who has genuine motives and intentions behind the work she is doing. She’s careful and considerate in her approach to the people she seeks out and the overall case she’s covering. She has experienced her own loss that provides her a place of empathy and understanding to operate from. Her own story and emotional tie to this case really helped drive the urgency and feel the deeper desperation for answers in the plot.

As for the romance part of the romantic suspense that Catherine Cowles does so well, I love a man who goes from reluctantly protective to “who did this to you?” to “never again” BUT also respects and believes in a woman’s ability and need to handle things for herself as well. Colt is all of the above. He is a protector by nature, and when it comes to Ridley he tries to fight that even though he’s destined to give in. There is so much that connects them and draws them both in. I love the way they interact and I love that Ridley doesn’t back down from him. He loves it too, and it creates a healthy, respectful partnership where he’d love to shield her from everything but knows he can’t and chooses to have her back while she does what she needs to do instead.

I can’t move on without mentioning that I deeply admire Emerson and hope this is more to come in this universe that might give her her own HEA with a certain handsome bartender/her brother’s best friend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Team Catherine Cowles for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love crime podcasts and All the missing pieces, will keep you interested like your favorite podcast. There’s murder, mystery and romance.

𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚. 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮, 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙊𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚.

From the start, I was completely sucked into this book, and I loved every minute of this suspenseful, true crime adjacent romance.

True Crime Podcaster Ridley has come to Shady Cove to look into the cold case of Emerson Brooks, a girl who was abducted 10 years ago, but managed to escape, unlike Ridley’s twin sister, who was never found after her own disappearance. Unsurprisingly, the townsfolk are none too happy to have her drudging up these old pains in their community.

This book read like a mystery thriller, but with plenty of romance to go along with it. You’ve got grumpy/sunshine dynamics, forced proximity, #vanlife, and adorable pet sidekicks.

The true crime aspect kept me guessing throughout, and had me turning those pages trying to figure out who the unsub could possible be!

I loved Ridley’s lookout on grief, and loved how she was able to bring hope for closure to Sheriff Colt, and the other townspeople of Shady Cove. 💜

The banter between the two leads was so much fun, and their romance had ME pining for that first kiss! 🥺

The side characters were so much fun, a lot of standout favorites. But their pets were my absolute favorite! (Tooth Hugs 🙌)

I really enjoyed reading this one, and had such a hard time putting it down, and I was definitely in tears by the end. 😢

Definitely recommend this one to those who love romance and true crime; such a perfect blend of the two.

Thank you to @sourcebookscasa for providing me an early copy of this ebook. All opinions are my own.

What this book is giving:
✅ Romantic Suspense
✅ Small Town Romance
✅ Dual POV
✅ True Crime Podcaster
✅ Sheriff MMC
✅ Animal sidekicks

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
🌶️🌶️½ / 5

Tropes:

💜grumpy x sunshine
🤍forced proximity
💜enemies to lovers
🤍small town
💜law enforcement hero
🤍true crime podcast
💜hurt / comfort
🤍suspense

I have read a lot of Catherine's books this is one of my favorite. She always nails the romantic suspense, with all the twists, turns and emotions. This is the story of Colt and Ridley.

Ridley, or "Chaos" runs a true crime podcast and is in Shady Cove working on her current project. She has been working on this story, and thinks this is where it all began. Unfortunately, the local Sheriff, Colt, doesn't want her around drudging up the past, after most people have tried to forget what happened and moved on. Ridley won't go away that easy. She needs answers for her sister's sake. She eventually wins Colt over and together they try to figure this case out for both of their sisters sakes.

This book had a lot of angst between the two main characters, and to watch that change and morph not only into a genuine understanding, friendship but love was great to read.

I genuinely enjoyed the cast of side characters and their quirks. I especially enjoyed Trey, and I'm hoping we get more to come .. maybe Trey and Colt's sister book?

Definitely was something there.

If you are a Catherine fan you will definitely want to give this a read when it releases in January.

Bravo. Brafuckingoh!!
Catherine Cowles can do no wrong. The best of the best. This one was no different. I FLOVED it!

Someone yell at me to read more romantic suspense! This was so good. 10/10 no complaints. As soon as I went in, I knew I had to see it through. I needed the satisfaction of the bad guy being caught. For me, this one was sort of unique. A true crime Podcaster was a first in a book for me. The way Ridley and Colt go back and forth kept wondering if they would ever make it to *that* point. It was well worth it once they stopped dancing around their feelings.
I need more of this small town and its people. I can smell a Trey and Emerson book coming, and I am ready! My girl Em needs a new lease on life.
If you asked me to pick a favorite character, I'd say Princess Tater easily. She can give me toothugs any day.

“This is Catherine’s best work to date!” - Me every time I read her latest book.

But really.. this was PHENOMENAL. She really killed it with this one - no pun intended. The story line was beautiful as it was haunting.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Ridley & Colt. Their hate to love was done so well. However, the real star of the show was Tater. I’m not being dramatic when I say I’d die for that cat.

All the stars and tooth hugs for this one.

catherine cowles does it again! as always, the perfect mix between romance and suspense. everyone that loves romantic suspense should have a great time with all the missing pieces.

Oh my word, this was my 1st read by this author and I devoured all the words. I am such a fan of true crime and the synopsis completely drew me in. From the prologue to the final chapter I was invested in this case. I loved Ridley's tenacity to get and bring justice to these victims families. I loved Colt's hard exterior and how Ridley was able to soften him up. The whole townspeople were rooting for them, save maybe a handful. This book came with a few snippets of humor and some shockingly surprising twists. It keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out who is the bad guy. Throughout, I was second guessing everybody! I was shocked at who the killer was and the lengths they went through to conceal their identity. This was the best romantic suspense thriller! I can't wait for more of Shady Cove, and hopefully Emerson's story.

⤼✧“ℬℯ𝓈𝓉 ℊ𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝒾'𝓋ℯ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓇ℯ𝒸ℯ𝒾𝓋ℯ𝒹, 𝓂ℯℯ𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊”✧⤽

This was such a good romantic suspense. I enjoyed the slow burn between Ridley and Colt so much. They definitely got off to a rocky start though, Colt was super protective of his town and sister. I have to admit, it was a little entertaining watching him dig himself into a deeper hole with Ridley every time he falsely accused her of something. But he redeemed himself in my eyes. I enjoyed seeing his character growth, without him losing his grumpiness.

I also just really liked Ridley and her outlook on life. What happened to her sister was devastating and she could’ve had a completely different tune about it.

⤼✧”𝒮𝒽ℯ'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒶 𝓅𝒾ℯ𝒸ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒽ℴ𝓃ℴ𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝓇 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝓎 ℴ𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻ℯ"✧⤽

The gradual love and understanding between these two was beautiful. The found family aspect of this book was also so well done. I really enjoyed many of the side characters and I’m hoping to see more of them in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC.

All the Missing Pieces is the first book I've read by Catherine Cowles, but it will definitely not be my last. I was drawn into the story from the outset and didn't want to put the book down!

Ridley Sawyer has a true crime podcast and her latest case has brought her to Shady Cove. She's looking into a serial killer, who she believes might have gotten his start in the small town. When she comes upon the town's sheriff, Colter Brooks, the last thing he wants is someone digging into the past and drudging up old feelings and wounds for the people of his town. Ridley is not to be swayed and she vows to find answers regardless of her personal safety and Colt's feelings. Will she succeed?

As I stated above, I was in this story from the very beginning. I loved the love/hate relationship that Ridley and Colt had. They knew exactly how to push one another's buttons, but they also understood one another in a way others might not given past experiences. I have to say I really didn't see the villain in this story coming. I was genuinely shocked by who it ended up being, which just goes to show how well written this was! While this might have been my first Cowles novel, it will definitely not be my last! I can't wait for the next one in this series.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Book Review
All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles

What Its Got
Podcast
Small town
Found family
Rescue pets
Siblings
Kidnapped/missing person/murder
True crime investigators
Agoraphobia
Assault

Thoughts
Still trying to figure out this books genre…is it a thriller or romance?
The romance is steamy, the MCs had great sexual tension, and the mystery had me hooked from the beginning
I did feel as though the Ending was abrupt- the pacing at the end (and epilogues) felt too rushed in comparison with the flow of the storyline - this was by no means a dealbreaker for me
Overall an engaging and entertaining read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and the author for my digital copy in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Catherine is and forever will be an auto buy author for me. This book had all the romance and suspense just like you would expect. I loved the true crime aspect of this one. It was a fun switch from her other books!

Ridley is the host of a true crime podcast devoted to solving cold cases. Her latest season brings her to Shady Cove to investigate the kidnapping of Emerson Sinclair, star tennis player and honor roll student at the time of her kidnapping. The small town has strong protective vibes over Emerson and not all take kindly to Ridley opening up old wounds, town sheriff, Colt, included.

I have to say I did not see this one playing out the way it did, which always makes for a fun read. I love being thrown curveballs that have me thinking I know what's going on only to find out I'm completely wrong. Catherine is a master at that!

Read if you enjoy:
- true crime
- small town
- grumpy, protective mmc
- strong, independent fmc

When I tell you I absolutely devoured this book, I was up until 2 am reading it because I could not put it down. Literally in one sitting. I just had to know everything right away, this book really did suck me right in!

For me this was Catherine Cowles' comeback book, I felt as if maybe I had outgrown her but NOPE, she pulled me back in with this book. I LOVED the mystery, it kept me so intrigued and an absolute page turned. Catherine Cowles did a fantastic job with the world-building for this small town, I felt myself transported there, I felt I was walking around with Ridley.

Ridley is such an extremely likable character, I loved her. She's just so real and relatable. She's so kind and caring, strong and independent. I just love how everything is so balanced with her, she's very eager to seek justice but she just has a gentle hand in doing it. I feel like I can't explain her, you just need to meet her to find out. She and I are in the same field of work too, so I loved to see that because she's a podcaster and I'm a fact checker for a podcast and we both have journalism degrees, it was just fun to have that similarity to her.

Colt, what to even say about this man, there were times I wanted to wring his neck but other times I was like aw he really is just a broody softie. He is VERY protective and he definitely did the right thing by becoming a cop, he was born for it.

I really liked a lot of the relationships outside of the romance as well, between Colt and Trey, Colt and his sister, Ridley and Emerson, Trey and Ridley. There were just a lot of great friendships in this book and I loved seeing that.

Ridley and Colt most definitely started off on the wrong foot, and Colt's icy welcome and quick-to-accuse behavior didn't help in that matter. But that really did allow the slow burn in this to simmer and grow. And the banter was just so entertaining.

I'm not joking when I say the killer was absolutely not on my radar, I did not suspect him for even a minute. It was such a great twist! I've already said it but the mystery is just so good in this, it's probably Catherine Cowles' best one yet. It's just so gripping and fun to look for the clues and trying to solve alongside the characters.

I need a book about Trey and Emerson, they are in love, I know it.

Catherine Cowles never fails to shock me with her villain in the story. This book is tbh unlike any other catherine book I’ve read so far. Ridley, our fmc, is a podcast host who investigates murder cases that have never been solved. She goes into a small town called Shady Cove where a woman went missing, but escaped. Her goal is to talk to this woman and anyone in the town to try to find out any key information she needs to solve the case. But this woman isn’t the only woman who has gone missing. There were several others and they weren’t as lucky as her to escape. Ridley had a very close relationship with one of the girls who was taken and never found. Her goal is to do whatever it takes to uncover this mystery. But someone she never thought would be in her way, keeps showing up, the town sheriff, Colt Brooks. And his sister is the woman that Ridley is after for questioning.

“Show no mercy, Chaos.”

Catherine Cowles never misses 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

What I liked:

Ridley & Colt have fantastic banter and chemistry from the moment they meet. The sexual tension and build up leading up to when they finally get together is *chef’s kiss*

The suspense plot was as it always is, fantastic. I was super suspicious of every single character, and yet I was still wrong about who the villain was.

I adore all of the side characters in the small town. They provide some comedic relief throughout a suspenseful story.