If she follows her heart… Will he follow the law? Turtleback Beach, North Carolina, would be paradise–if Faye Donovan wasn’t on the run. With her sister’s life in danger and her small niece to protect, Faye tries to avoid handsome town sheriff Carlos Ryker. But Carlos offers her a refuge, and Faye feels she’s finally found home. And yet he’s still the sheriff. Can she trust him with the … trust him with the truth…even if it means risking everything?
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Caught by the Sheriff is the second book in the new Turtleback Beach series and it can be read as a stand-alone, but the first book is just as great as this one. I really enjoyed getting to see all the locals of Turtleback Beach again and being introduced to a few new ones. The book drew me in and kept my attention until the end. I love series that take place in small towns and have such heartwarming characters. Turtleback Beach was such, with a lot of warm caring people that helped each other out like they were one great big family. We meet Carlos, the sheriff, in the first book and I was so happy to see him have his own book. I liked his sincerity and his big heart. He took his job as the town sheriff seriously and wanted to protect and keep the entire town safe. Faye was such a strong woman and she had a tough choice. She needed to find her twin sister but knew that first she had to keep her niece Mia safe. She really wanted to give her trust to Carlos, but her niece’s safety was her responsibility. This was such a wonderful small-town romance and I enjoyed the entire series. I hope to see future books with some of the other characters in them.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily writing a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Caught By the Sheriff is the second book in Rula Sinara’s Turtleback Beach series, though it certainly could work as a standalone. Like its predecessor, there is a suspense element to the plot–this time the heroine’s on the run with her niece, hiding from her brother-in-law and at least partially misrepresenting herself to the people of Turtleback Beach, her college friend Eve included.
Similar to the first book, it is mostly from the POV of Faye and Carlos with occasional bits from that of the antagonist, this time Faye’s brother-in-law. Also similarly, the suspense portion hits heavily toward the end of the book and is almost over before it begins though it is very intense in the moment. This time there was a bit more going on behind the scenes that we don’t find out about until Faye does–is it wrong to hope that her sister will move to town and get her own book? I both want her to get an HEA and maybe see what happened from her POV, at least at the end there.
Carlos is almost too good to be true–an Air Force vet turned sheriff who adopts elderly dogs, is great with kids, and knows what kind of baked goods his friends prefer and buys them for them. He does some serious power lifting behind the scenes to get everyone through the drama of the suspense climax in one piece, and of course he’s a real stand up guy with Faye. I mean, he probably had flaws and I’m just forgetting them? Heck, he even forgave Faye for her many deceptions without making her squirm overmuch (not that he shouldn’t have, it’s just he did it really, really quickly).
Faye’s a lot more complex, in many ways. She’s keeping secrets, of course, and is constantly conflicted about what she should share and with whom. Carlos has to work overtime to gain her trust, because her twin sister’s experience with law enforcement is less than stellar (her husband has connections). But she’s also a serious dog whisperer, whose skills made me feel all the more less-than when we took our dog for a walk today–gosh darn it, Faye would have had him behaving in a second! Sigh…
Still, though I would have liked for them to be a little more flawed and maybe work a teensy bit harder for their romantic resolution, this was a sweet story that kept me turning the pages. I’m looking forward to my next trip to Turtleback Beach for sure!
(Though–is it just me who kind of has a mini freakout now when characters show cold/flu-like symptoms? When Faye got sick I had to keep reminding myself that the Turtleback Beach universe didn’t have COVID-19…yet…)
Rating: 4 stars / B+
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Rula Sinara returns to Turtleback Beach and focuses on the town Sheriff, Carlos Ryker. When Faye shows up in his town with a baby, he’s curious about her. Carlos takes his job to protect his town and the people in it seriously.
But Faye has secrets. Big ones. Ones that could bring trouble to her, baby Mia, and Turtleback. And that ramps up the tension in this book and keeps it moving along at a nice clip.
The residents of Turtleback are loyal to their pets and their friends. Plus, there’s more than one romance in Caught by the Sheriff. Eve made an appearance in the first book in the series and I hoped we’d get her story. It’s in the pages of Caught by the Sheriff.
Between the instant attraction between Carlos and Faye and the tension of waiting for the truth to come to light, Sinara builds the anticipation through out this book, making it a quick read.
There are a few more residents of this coastal town I hope get their own stories in future books, too.
Disclosure statement: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Caught by the Sheriff by Rula Sinara is about a young woman willing to do anything to protect her sister and niece from harm.
Can Faye keep Mia safe from her father?
Faye Donovan
Faye Donovan is a pet groomer and trainer extraordinary until she has to kidnap her niece to keep her safe. How long can she hide from the law with a one-year-old toddler? Faye runs to Turtleback Beach, where her friend, Eve, lives and works. Hopefully, she can keep her niece safe long enough to find her sister and get her brother-in-law arrested. Faye is a great aunt and a caring sister, even if she didn’t think so when her sister needed her at certain times. Her business is excellent, and when she gets to Turtleback, she can’t keep away from those trustful dogs for long, especially when a lot of them need to be walked.
What I like about Faye is that she does show herself growing. She went from this lady that doesn’t know anything about kids to learning things on the whim about Mia. The one thing that I disliked is that I hoped she could have trusted Carlos a bit more.
Carlos Riker
Carlos Riker is an Air Force veteran that is now the sheriff who lost too many things throughout his life. He wants to be able to help Faye but doesn’t know how to when she won’t talk to him. Carlos puts together a theory, but it’s not correct. He is a great guy who does a lot of things to help Faye out when she needed it.
These two make a great couple. Carlos is friendly and knows what to do when helping someone along with the whole town. What I like about Carlos is that he took his time to get Faye to trust him enough to kind of tell the truth to him. Another thing that I like about him is that he showed great care for Mia when he didn’t have to. The last thing that I like about him is that Carlos can get the people to help out when one of them is in trouble.
Five Stars
Caught by the Sheriff by Rula Sinara is another excellent book in this lovely seaside town. I love small towns, and this one of Turtleback Beach sounds fantastic. I love all the places that they frequent, and I can’t wait for more. Ms. Sinara had me from the beginning, and I wanted to know more about it. So, I am giving it five stars and recommending this novel to anyone that loves sweet contemporary romances.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Prism Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Caught by the Sheriff by Rula Sinara.
Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
Caught By the Sheriff returns us for another visit to the delightful Turtleback Beach and catches us up with Sheriff Ryker, whom we met briefly in Almost a Bride. (Don’t worry if you haven’t read that one yet, though. It works just fine as a stand alone.) The plot in this 2nd book of the series reminded me in all the best ways of my favorite Hallmark Christmas movie – A Season for Miracles but there were still plenty of differences to make this story experience a new one for me.
Carlos Ryker is super swoony, especially when he’s falling in love and/or in protective sheriff mode. And Faye and her adorable toddler niece Mia could use a bit of protecting, on the run after Faye receives an urgent message from her missing twin sister to keep Mia safe at all costs. As you might imagine, this complicates the immediate attraction between Faye & Carlos and very much complicates them falling in love. Complicated romances make for complicated emotions which make for passionate feelings which make for yummy kisses, which makes reader-me very happy.
In addition to getting to know Carlos better & meeting Faye, we get to spend more time with the other residents of Turtleback Beach, specifically Chanda, Jordan, and Eve. This also made reader-me very happy as my curiosity about bookstore-owner Eve was piqued in book 1, and honestly I could have enjoyed a whole book just on her backstory & budding romance too.
The author does a great job of keeping the tension high throughout the story, both the romantical kind and the tension of never knowing when Faye’s psycho brother-in-law would surface in Turtleback Beach. But she also does a masterful job of balancing all that tension with well-timed humor in the right doses, mainly thanks to some sweet, big-personality dogs and an equally-big-personality, precocious, adorable toddler.
Bottom Line: Caught By the Sheriff is exactly what I love about Rula Sinara’s novels, with a lovely bonus dose of suspense like its predecessor in this Turtleback Beach series. Engaging, layered characters you’ll want as friends, a charming setting that draws you in as a welcome visitor, humor, warmth, and of course romance! You’ll be hooked from the first page and won’t be able to put the book down until the very end. Looking forward to more, always, from this author!
(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)