Book Review and Giveaway: Recovery by Alexandrea Weis

*** this giveaway is closed **

Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of Katrina ravaged New Orleans, Recovery, has Nicci Beauvoir struggling to pick up the pieces of her heart and track down a killer two years after the unsolved murder of her lover, the famed painter David Alexander.

Nicci is ready to do anything to figure out who murdered David and why. With the help of David's former boss, she meets Dallas August, a highly skilled spy known for his ruthless ways. August and Nicci agree to pose as a couple to help tempt a jealous killer out of hiding.As August escorts her around the rebuilding Big Easy, Nicci begins to wonder whether the chemistry between the two is genuine. But when someone tries to kill August, she realizes things may be spinning out of control. 

Desperate to end their ordeal, the pair decide to lure the killer out of the city for a final showdown. It's a decision that could cost Nicci everything. 

The Author says: "I place Nicci's road to recovery in the post-Katrina New Orleans because I wanted the city's struggles, and eventual resurrection, to mirror the experiences of the main character".

About the Author: Alexandrea Weis' popular first novel, To My Senses received rave reviews and garnered awards for both commercial fiction and romance writing, including 2007 finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for commercial fiction and 2007 finalist for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year. A permitted wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, Weis rescues orphaned and injured wildlife. She lives with her husband and pets in New Orleans

Review: I have to admit I had not read/heard of Weis' first book in this series, prior to reading this one. I will be looking for it, as I really want to read it now! This was a really interesting book to me, as a) I went to high school in Uptown NO and b)survived Katrina like the author. Her local characters were familiar, as they were much like people I have known, and they were totally appropriate to New Orleans. As I was reading I could easily picture the places and locations that Weis speaks of and she caught the recovery 100% correctly. When she mentioned that the devastation was caused by trust in an old levee system, general apathy and failure to respond quickly, I knew the book was going to accurately portray the slow recovery.

The recovery backdrop was a great idea to mirror the recovery of the main character, after 2 years of grief over the loss of the love of her life. The new romance in the book is not overwrought, but in keeping with the character's personalities, and very appropriate to the story. The mystery kept you turning pages, even though you though you knew who might be the suspect. The end while not surprising, left some questions unanswered for what I am sure will be the third book of the series. 

This is a wonderful read, and I highly recommend it!

Giveaway:

Winner will receive this review copy of Recovery!

Entries:

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Contest will end on April 27th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on April 28th, and emailed. As soon as winners' info is received, I will mail their book to them on the next mail run..

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book for review purposes, free of charge, from Bostick COmmunications! No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about the book!