Not This Time, by Vicki Hinze is the third book in a series. In this third installment, best friends Sara and Beth have to work together to rescue Sara's husband, Robert, who has been kidnapped. But is Sara what she seems? Is Robert? Is Beth capable of harming her best friend's husband, whom she openly dislikes? The authorities think that maybe she is, even as she works with them to find Robert, and the people behind his alleged kidnapping. Everyone in the village is either in danger, under suspicion, or both. In the midst of the chaos, Beth continues to fall harder for Joe, a man who comes with his own secrets, and who is trying his best to get past the hurt in Beth's past to show her he can be trusted.It took me longer to get interested in this book than usual. Part of that was not realizing it was part of a series until I had already begun reading. The characters seemed to have backgrounds that I wasn't familiar with, and there were references to events in the past that I can only assume were covered in previous books. Also, it felt weird to me to keep talking about the "village," but that grew less weird as the book went on.
As a reader, I don't like when it feels like an author is deliberately obtuse about information. This story felt like it was working hard to keep the reader from guessing the mystery, and that bothered me a lot. A well-written plot shouldn't have to give false leads, or continue to hint at information that the author refuses to reveal. At that point, I begin to stop caring about the details.
I would give this book 2.5 stars. I don't recommend it as a stand alone book, but perhaps, with more background on the characters, it might make a decent series.
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I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah publishers as part of their Blogging for Books progam, in exchange for my honest review.
