Review at a Glance
- Escaping from the Shadows
- My Rating: 3.5
- Genre: Romantic Suspense
- Format: eARC*
- Publication Date: December 28, 2020
- Author: CL Tustin
Similar To
Book Blurb
Anastasia Travess is caring, beautiful and talented, but all her life her abusive father has kept her down. Seeking love wherever she can there has only ever been one man she trusts, one man who makes her complete and he rejected her years ago.
Piers Talbot is an enigma, a charming bachelor with only one woman in his heart. But when offered a choice between fixing his estranged family and obtaining his heart’s desire he makes probably the worst decision of his life.
When Anastasia rekindles her past relationship with Piers’ younger brother, the lines between love and loyalty become blurred. Amid danger, betrayal and deception, Anastasia is forced to question everything she thought she knew.
But will Anastasia have the courage to escape from the shadows?
Escaping from the Shadows
Review
As a quick reminder, here is my rating structure:
- 1 star: Did not finish
- 2 Stars: Finished but I do not recommend
- 3 Stars: Liked but could use some improvements
- 4 Stars: Loved this book!
- 5 Stars: Rare. The unput-down-able, binge read obsession.
My star ratings are also based also genre based. I compare all books with books of the same genre. While I would love to believe that my love of books in general transcends all bias, there are genres I prefer over others.
I’m human.
Example: If I read a mystery novel and think it deserves a 5-star rating, then I have compared it to other mystery books, and determined it to be one of my absolute favorites. The unputdownable mystery.
This will hopefully keep me from comparing Outlander, a personal obsession of mine, with the experience of reading The Hate You Give. Both 5 star books for me, but completely and totally different. I couldn’t even try to rate them against each other, so I don’t. Makes my life easier.
My Thoughts about
Escaping from the Shadows
Wow. I’m gonna need a minute after this one, there is just so much going on. Talk about drama. Honestly, I feel like any soap opera could option this book and get storylines for along while.
And I say that as a life long soap opera watcher. My Granny would watch her stories with me and while I don’t watch them daily, I make sure to keep up with what’s happening in Port Charles and Salem.
Romantic suspense is one of my favorite genre mashups. They are utterly compelling because of the drama and the romance.
Anastasia seemed to be a little all over the place romantically, which fits because she needed to be with her soulmate and wasn’t. She had her flaws, but they fit within the story and kept her character honest. And I really enjoyed the Piers character but I’m a sucker for a strong male lead.
After the initial character introductions and romance storylines, we get into some really dramatic elements. Things really heat up on all of the fronts. Not only do they heat up, but get dark and twisty. Which makes for some of the most entertaining stories.
I wish that there had been a few less love interests, just because I got overwhelmed with the characters, though I understand their purpose within the story. I was also a little impatient for Piers and Anastasia to get back together, but that’s typical with me and any romance. I want to get to the good stuff, lol.
Fans of either genre will love Escaping form the Shadows.
~About the Author~
C L Tustin was born and raised in the East Midlands but spent her teenage years in Sydney, Australia. She has sung twice at the Sydney Opera House and also appeared singing live on Australian national television. Returning to the UK in 1989 via Singapore and the Middle East the travel bug has never left her and she has explored countries and cities across the world.
C L Tustin began writing at the age of 11 when she didn’t see why James Bond had to be a man and created a spy code named The Cat with 10 planned adventures. Her first published novel “Escaping from the Shadows” is a romance with an undertone of threat set in the social media free world of 1990. She is currently working on editing and completing her second romance “Desert Rose” whilst writing a brand new story “Flower of Death”. Future projects already planned include two Regency romances and a sci-fi thriller.
Whilst raising her son C L Tustin continued to balance writing and work with completing a BSc(Hons) in Science and a MSc(Merit) in Earth Science with the Open University. This was a most rewarding experience despite the long hours and hard work involved.
C L Tustin has worked for two major banks, a tool company, the MOD and the NHS. She has completed 3 Thames Bridges walking challenges for charity, volunteers for Butterfly Conservation and passionately supports rescue dogs. C L Tustin lives currently with her rescued 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier and a diverse collection of books and sci-fi memorabilia.
*Special thanks to CL Tustin, Cebalrai, and Rachel’s Random Resources providing a copy of Escaping from the Shadows in exchange for an honest review.
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