REVIEW: Missing in Texas by Karen Whiddon

In Missing in Texas by Karen Whiddon, Edie Beswick’s adopted daughter is kidnapped the same day Jake Cassin comes to town, looking for his down daughter that had been abducted four years ago. They both suspect that the little girl is the same one. They decide to team up to find her and figure out why she was abducted twice, and along the way, they start to fall for one another. Will they be able to get their daughter back and form a family?

I enjoyed that the main culprit is unknown through most of the book, but I was left with some questions. For instance, Edie adopted Laney after her “mother”, who was Edie’s cousin, had died. But Laney wasn’t really the cousin’s daughter, and it wasn’t clear how the cousin actually tied into the Laney’s initial disappearance. Had she been tied in with the person who abducted her a second time? It’s not really clear, and I would have liked to have known how Edie’s cousin had wound up with Laney.

I did admire how both Jake and Edie were willing to put their worries about future custody aside to work together and do whatever they could to find Laney. The steamy scenes felt out of place though; considering everything that was going on, it didn’t feel realistic that they would come together the way they did. I thought they worked well together as two concerned parents searching for their missing daughter, but as a romantic couple, it felt a little forced.

Missing in Texas is an action-packed book filled with twists and turns, despair, and hope, which will keep readers on the edge of their seats from the first page until the last. While I was left wondering how certain things came to be, I found it overall to be a good read and would recommend it to those readers who enjoy romantic suspense.

Book Info:

Publication: August 22, 2023 | Harlequin Romantic Suspense |

A child in danger

And two parents who have never met

When her adopted daughter is abducted, Edie Beswick suspects the man who claims to be her little girl’s father…until she sees how Jake Cassin reacts to Laney’s disappearance. Working together increases their chances of finding the child they both love, but it complicates their looming custody battle. Is indulging in their attraction just a welcome release for two people in pain—or do they have a future as a family?