Beautiful Sacrifice by Gen Ryan: Review

Posted September 9, 2016 in review Tags: 4 stars, Giveaway, New to Me Authors

Beautiful Sacrifice by Gen Ryan
Pages: 206

Series: Thin Red Lines #2
Genres: Romantic Suspense

Avery Grant has only known a life of fighting crime. Following in her father's footsteps, she graduates top of her FBI class and plans to move quickly up the ranks. She has her entire life planned out until she met Detective Evan Bradley.
Evan is everything that Avery vowed to avoid. Married to his job, Evan fights every day to do what's right, whatever the cost.
Faced with a satanic cult that is sacrificing the innocent, Avery and Evan must work together to apprehend the criminals before any more innocent lives are lost. As they both struggle to navigate through their pasts and growing affection, Avery and Evan fight against a ticking clock and their own feelings.
Will they be able to solve the case and avoid another beautiful sacrifice?

Beautiful Sacrifice uses a writing technique I have always loved: 1st person narrative from the bad guy/girl. I love romantic suspense, crime novels, and the likes but I think when you get the killers POV, the story becomes extra creepy in such a good way. The book starts with the killers POV before even introducing you to the heroes!

This is book 2 in the series; the first few chapters are discussing what happened in the previous book. Its not essential to have read Beautiful Masterpiece first, but it is helpful for understand the characters, their backstories, and their jobs. Plus, if you love the romantic thrillers, you will want to read book 1 anyway!

Beautiful Sacrifice gives us multiple POVs including those of our hero, Det. Evan, and heroine Agent Avery. They meet at a crime scene and certainly find each other attractive. Evan makes the first move, pushing Avery to go out with him. She agrees to allow him to meet her and her friends at a bar. Avery is VERY closed off emotionally (with good reason based on her childhood) so she does not want to get involved.

After watching my mother cave in to addiction due to unrequited love, I vowed to never love a man like my mom had loved my father. That vulnerability, that pure raw emotion was disastrous.

The story is multilayered which keeps you reading and guessing. Even though you know who the killers are, you still are wondering how it will all unfold. That with the attraction/building relationship between Evan and Avery and you have a very compelling story!

Avery and Evan fall hard and fast. And then Avery finds out Evan hid something from her and she totally loses it. Says that this was exactly what she expected all along, yada yada. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy really. While I could understand Avery’s aversion to love, the whole thing with Evan seemed so…off. Their insta-love wasn’t really believable and when she freaks out on him, it makes the insta-love even less believable because she obviously wasn’t really in love anyway.