Title: Silver Cascade Secrets by Rachelle J Christensen
Genre: Currently #1810 in Kindle Store, Kindle Short Reads, Two hours or more, Romance
Publisher: Peachwood Press
Publication Date: September 2015
Silver Cascade Secrets – Colorful cover
Yah gotta give it for short, given the (romantic suspense) novella itself was only about 60 pages of an 85-page offering.
There wasn’t a lot of suspense here, only a young woman on the rebound chasing a possible next up romance; kind of a girl gets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets him back again story.
Jillian Warren is the landscape technician of the Silver Cascade Park set in Boise, Idaho (and you have to admit that’s different for a protagonist). I did enjoy the description of the gardens, themes, and seasonal colors.
It doesn’t take long for Jillian to develop the hots for Travis when she meets him in her park and notices how nice he fills out a pair of jeans. He is looking for his keys after his sister picks up his niece and she’s glad to help.
Travis soon shares that his brother-in-law was murdered months ago and Jillian is off and running on the mystery that doesn’t take as long to solve as getting Travis to shoot doe eyes back at her.
The novella is really too short for plot development, and the protagonist, swift as she is, doesn’t garner a whole lot of interest, as she seems a bit vacuous. (I mean, come on, she is just getting over her last love and supposed to be heartbroken.) The ex does make a short appearance creating turmoil for Jillian (remember I said girl loses [current] boy?).
We are barely introduced to the antagonist or the peripheral characters, and you don’t have to worry about adult language or situations as these characters and dialogue are too juvenile for either.
Following the short story portion of the book are recipes(!), introductory chapter of a succeeding book and prologue of an additional full novel, which I found to be a bit over-the-top promotion. This story is apparently included in an older anthology, but falls a bit short to be a stand-alone novella and perhaps was the reason for the marketing offers.
I was offered a free download for an honest review, and while I thought the premise was unique, the plot and characters fall just a little short of cozy. Recommended for those looking for a light-hearted, fast, and easy read.
Rosepoint Publishing: Four of Five Stars
The Author: Rachelle is an award-winning author of twelve books, including a Kindle Scout Selection and a mystery series. She is the mother of five who writes a variety of fiction as well as nonfiction. She and her family reside on a little farm in rural Idaho. Rachelle is a graduate of Utah State University. ©2017 Virginia Williams 
Rosepoint Publishing 