Series: Standalone
Genera(s): Contemporary Thriller/Romance
Subjects: witness protection, crime, identity,
secrets, addiction, summer, small towns
Setting: Thunder Basin, Nebraska
POV/Tense: 1st person past tense: Estella
Goodwin (Stella Gordan)
Age/Grade Level: Teen
Length: 384 pgs.
HC/PB: Hardcover
List Price: $18.99
Publisher: Simon & Schuster: BFYR
Summary/ product description: “A teen is forced to make a
fresh start after witnessing a violent crime—but love and danger find her
anyway in this novel from Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling
author of the Hush, Hush saga.
Stella
Gordon is not her real name. Thunder Basin, Nebraska, is not her real home.
This is not her real life.
After
witnessing a lethal crime, Stella Gordon is sent to the middle of nowhere for
her own safety before she testifies against the man she saw kill her mother’s
drug dealer.
But
Stella was about to start her senior year with the boyfriend she loves. How can
she be pulled away from the only life she knows and expected to start a new one
in Nebraska? Stella chafes at her protection and is rude to everyone she meets.
She’s not planning on staying long, so why be friendly? Then she meets Chet
Falconer and it becomes harder to keep her guard up, even as her guilt about
having to lie to him grows.
As
Stella starts to feel safer, the real threat to her life increases—because her
enemies are actually closer than she thinks…
My Review: It’s
not to often I read a book without any fantasy, paranormal or sci-fi elements,
but when I do my go-to genera is mystery thrillers. This one didn’t really have
a lot of crazy scary thrills, but it did have a hot cowboy. And all I could
think of was Tucker from Unearthly, my favorite contemporary cowboy. Chet would
now be my second favorite. Most of the book Stella didn’t want Chet
romantically, but cowboys are hard to resist.
Dangerous Lies is about Estella Goodwin, who’s given
the fake name Stella Gordon and put in witness protection after witnessing her
mother’s drug dealer murdering a guy in her home. She ends up in Thunder Basin,
Nebraska, which is a small rural town. Carmina, a retired policewoman is taking
care of her during her stay. She’s a very tough no-nonsense woman. Stella’s not
happy about her situation, but then she mets Chet, the cowboy next store who
care for his younger teenage brother ever since their parents we killed by a drunk
driver. Chet’s helpful and kind, but Carmina doesn’t seem to like him. Stella
befriends him. She also gets a summer job at a diner and make friend with her
coworker Inny.
This book was loads of fun, surprisingly. I love the
setting. It’s awesome. Summer in Nebraska with country stuff. Sounds like the
perfect escape. I love it when fun stuff happen in books, like picnics, rodeos,
summer-y things. This is the perfect summer book and makes me wish it was still
summer. I love country western stuff to. I imagined accents from the
characters, but I’m not sure people in western Nebraska sound like Texans.
Probably not. I’ve only been to Nebraska once on my way to Colorado in 2003.
It’s pretty much like South Dakota, but less touristy.
There’s a jerk named Trigger in this book. He seems to
recognize Stella but can’t place her. He plays baseball and he might even get
into the majors. I figured out why her recognized her early on. It was pretty
obvious. Stella’s boyfriend Reed was also put into witness protection, but she
doesn’t know where. He used to play baseball also. Stella used to play
basketball in high school, and Chet say he did too. Stella joins a coed
softball team. So, lots of sport stuff mentioned. I’m not athletic, so I don’t
care. I used to play basketball for fun, but I wasn’t that great.
I recommend this book to fans of YA thrillers by Cat
Patrick, Romily Bernard, Michelle Gagnon, and other, and series like Becoming Mara
Dyer (which I have not read, but I understand that Mara Dyer was a fake name).
Also, Black Ice, another Becca-thriller I need to read.
Cover Art Review: Simple. Definitely says thriller. I
love the raindrop embossment texture. I love stroking this cover.
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