REVIEW: Marked for Revenge by Delores Fossen

Marked for Revenge by Delores Fossen is the fourth book in the Silver Creek Lawmen: Second Generation series. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, and while I felt like some of the characters may have been introduced in other books, I didn’t feel like I was really missing anything. Because of this, I will say that this can be read as a standalone.

The bodies of female victims keep turning up, wearing a mask of the face of Deputy Ava Lawson. Someone is determined to come after her, but who could it be? Her son that she had been forced to give up for adoption? The son’s father? Her own father or his friend? There are a lot of potential suspects at play but no clear answers. The mayor calls in the Texas Rangers for assistance, and her ex, Harley Ryland, volunteers for the case.

Things didn’t end well between the pair. Harley had been investigating Ava’s father for a crime and when he decided not to charge him, Ava called their relationship off. That didn’t stop Harley from caring about Ava and the unborn child she’s carrying. He’s determined to keep them both safe no matter what the cost.

While I enjoyed the mystery and suspense of the story, I thought it was a bit odd that the villain dragged Ava into everything, considering she had nothing to do directly with what happened to set the villain off. It seemed that the killer put an awful lot of work into her plan, when there were probably easier ways she could have accomplished her goals.

I normally don’t knit pick about these types of things, but I felt that the author could have used a thesaurus, as the words groan/groaned were grossly overused. I was reading on my e-reader so I don’t know how it exactly it would translate in paper form, but here’s an example. On one page it says, “Marnie groaned.” The next page was “Marnie paused, cursed, then groaned.” Two pages later, “Marnie groaned again…” This is only one example where the word was repeatedly used over the course of several pages. There were times it didn’t really make sense to use it, such as, “…Caleb clarified. He groaned and shook his head.” Just shook his head would have been fine. There was nothing in that section of the book that warranted a groan. The words were used so many times, it actually became annoying to see it. I read an advanced copy of the book; I’m hoping that some of these instances of groan/groaned will be removed before publishing, because it took away from my enjoyment of an otherwise good story.

With plenty of action and mystery, Marked for Revenge is a book fans of romantic suspense will enjoy, if you can overlook the constant groaning.

Book Info:

Publication: September 26, 2023 | Harlequin Intrigue | Silver Creek Lawmen: Second Generation #4

Ever since female victims started turning up wearing death masks of her face, Deputy Ava Lawson has been in terror for herself and her unborn child. The Texas Ranger assigned to the case knows Ava’s deepest, darkest secrets. Harley Ryland is also her baby’s father. As her past explodes on the present, Ava and Harley track a killer who won’t stop until a long-awaited revenge is complete…