Author: K.A. Tucker
Publication Date: January 23, 2018
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis via Goodreads: Making a Murderer meets Scandal in this story of police corruption, family secrets, and illicit affairs from bestselling author K.A. Tucker, celebrated for her “propulsive plot twists and searing seduction” (USA TODAY).
Noah Marshall has known a privileged and comfortable life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that's been rattling in her closet for years, and succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family's life. Reeling with grief, Noah is forced to carry the burden of this shocking secret.
Gracie Richards wasn't born in a trailer park, but after fourteen years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it's all she knows anymore. At least here people don't care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop, murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Here, she and her mother are just another family struggling to survive...until a man who clearly doesn't belong shows up on her doorstep.
Despite their differences, Noah and Gracie are searching for answers to the same questions, and together, they set out to uncover the truth about the Austin Police Department's dark and messy past. But the scandal that emerges is bigger than they bargained for, and goes far higher up than they ever imagined.
Complex, gritty, sexy, and thrilling, Keep Her Safe solidifies K.A. Tucker's reputation as one of today's most talented new voices in romantic suspense.
K.A. Tucker is back at it again with yet another romantic suspense novel that will have you at the edge of your seats! I went into Keep Her Safe having no idea what this story was about but I've been a long time fan of Tucker's books and she hasn't let me down yet, so I had no doubts when it came to her latest release.
Keep her Safe is a story filled with lies, secrets, corruption and murder. Jackie Marshall has been haunted by secrets from the past and her overwhelming guilt leads her to taking her own life. But not before she confesses these secrets to her son, Noah, who now must piece together the clues his mother left behind to find out the truth. His search for the truth will lead him reconnect with someone from his past, the daughter of the man his mother betrayed. Together, they will have to separate fact from fiction and what they discover may end up changing both their lives forever.
Keep Her Safe starts off slow...very slow. The story is told from four POVs: Noah Marshall, Gracie Richards, Abe Wilkes and Jackie Marshall. Noah and Gracie's POVs are told from the present while Abe and Jackie's POVs are from the past. The first half of the story is basically just a set up for all the fuckery that will be revealed in the second half of the story. I wasn't completely invested in this story until the 40% mark because I honestly was lost for a good chunk of this book.
DO NOT TRUST NO MOTHERFUCKER WHILE READING THIS BOOK! Except for Gracie of course since she is just like us and is putting together pieces of the truth as more secrets are revealed. But seriously, most of these characters aren't reliable at all. The whole Austin Police Department is corrupt. Hell, the whole town in corrupt with the way some of them kept their lips zipped about what they saw and heard. Even Abe and Jackie's POVs are a little off because you're only getting bits of the past and never the full story. It's so hard to trust anyone in book which is why I was so on edge for a good majority of the book.
Gracie is definitely my favorite character. She's had to fight for most of her life after the towns people turned their backs on her and her mother after her father was labeled as a corrupt cop. She lost so much at a young age and yet she still does her best to keep moving forward. I especially admired her patience and her love for her mother. She's still got a big heart despite all the hell she's been through. I have a love hate relationship with Noah. I thought he was so shady for the first half of the book and I really wasn't sure if he was okay with throwing his own mother under the bus if it meant clearing Abe's name. Like Gracie, I did eventually warm up to Noah and that's all I'm gonna say about that.
While this is categorized as romantic suspense, the romance doesn't really play a huge role in the story. It's kind of weaved in here and there and I actually liked that there was not a lot of sexy time. It's definitely a slow-burning romance which is a good considering Noah and Gracie don't really remember much about each other from their childhood. Also, this is an interracial romance. Gracie is biracial and Noah is white. Tucker even touches upon privilege and racism in this book, two topics that play a significant role throughout this story.
While I've done a lot of raving so far about this book, it's not without it's faults. I'm gonna throw some shade for a minute because this was something that irritated the hell out of me and I can't let it go. As I mentioned, Gracie is biracial. She's got a head full of thick curls, brown skin and green eyes YET THERE'S A WHOLE ASS WHITE GIRL ON THE COVER??!!
Despite my little snarky remarks, I did very much enjoy Tucker's latest release. Keep Her Safe may be my favorite suspense book by Tucker to date and I would definitely recommend everyone give it a read. I honestly don't know how she will top this book, but whatever Tucker has in stores for us next you bet your ass I'm ready for it!
Keep her Safe is a story filled with lies, secrets, corruption and murder. Jackie Marshall has been haunted by secrets from the past and her overwhelming guilt leads her to taking her own life. But not before she confesses these secrets to her son, Noah, who now must piece together the clues his mother left behind to find out the truth. His search for the truth will lead him reconnect with someone from his past, the daughter of the man his mother betrayed. Together, they will have to separate fact from fiction and what they discover may end up changing both their lives forever.
Keep Her Safe starts off slow...very slow. The story is told from four POVs: Noah Marshall, Gracie Richards, Abe Wilkes and Jackie Marshall. Noah and Gracie's POVs are told from the present while Abe and Jackie's POVs are from the past. The first half of the story is basically just a set up for all the fuckery that will be revealed in the second half of the story. I wasn't completely invested in this story until the 40% mark because I honestly was lost for a good chunk of this book.
BASICALLY ME
Tucker does a great job at keeping readers on their toes with numerous twists and turns and even though it was a slow start, I eventually was dying to know what really happened to Abe. Just when I thought I had the case figured out, Tucker would throw us for a loop and it was back to the drawing board. Literally, a plot twist was thrown in at the last 5% of the book and I was shook! Patience is a definite must for this one so grab your popcorn and your thinking caps because you will need them!
DO NOT TRUST NO MOTHERFUCKER WHILE READING THIS BOOK! Except for Gracie of course since she is just like us and is putting together pieces of the truth as more secrets are revealed. But seriously, most of these characters aren't reliable at all. The whole Austin Police Department is corrupt. Hell, the whole town in corrupt with the way some of them kept their lips zipped about what they saw and heard. Even Abe and Jackie's POVs are a little off because you're only getting bits of the past and never the full story. It's so hard to trust anyone in book which is why I was so on edge for a good majority of the book.
Gracie is definitely my favorite character. She's had to fight for most of her life after the towns people turned their backs on her and her mother after her father was labeled as a corrupt cop. She lost so much at a young age and yet she still does her best to keep moving forward. I especially admired her patience and her love for her mother. She's still got a big heart despite all the hell she's been through. I have a love hate relationship with Noah. I thought he was so shady for the first half of the book and I really wasn't sure if he was okay with throwing his own mother under the bus if it meant clearing Abe's name. Like Gracie, I did eventually warm up to Noah and that's all I'm gonna say about that.
While this is categorized as romantic suspense, the romance doesn't really play a huge role in the story. It's kind of weaved in here and there and I actually liked that there was not a lot of sexy time. It's definitely a slow-burning romance which is a good considering Noah and Gracie don't really remember much about each other from their childhood. Also, this is an interracial romance. Gracie is biracial and Noah is white. Tucker even touches upon privilege and racism in this book, two topics that play a significant role throughout this story.
While I've done a lot of raving so far about this book, it's not without it's faults. I'm gonna throw some shade for a minute because this was something that irritated the hell out of me and I can't let it go. As I mentioned, Gracie is biracial. She's got a head full of thick curls, brown skin and green eyes YET THERE'S A WHOLE ASS WHITE GIRL ON THE COVER??!!
Like come the fuck on Atria, how y'all gonna do it like that? I know Gracie got some white in her, but the way Tucker described her features in the book makes it sounds like her black traits are more predominant and it would've been nice to see a brown girl on the cover. I mean, I went into this book thinking that the heroine was white so color me shook af when I found out that this was not the case. No other reviews I read made it known that Gracie was biracial so that cover really ain't helping anyone. *shrugs*
