From USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen, comes the next instalment of the Longview Ridge Ranch series featuring no-nonsense cowboy brothers in law enforcement. A past tragedy destroyed their love. A vulnerable newborn brings them back together. Within moments of discovering a baby on his doorstep, Texas Ranger Eli Slater finds himself being held at gunpoint by his ex, Ashlyn Darrow. … ex, Ashlyn Darrow. She claims she was tipped off that the still-gorgeous cowboy kidnapped her newly adopted daughter because of the bad blood that defines their past. They quickly realize Eli’s been set up and now Eli is determined to protect Ashlyn and her daughter. But regaining her trust will be as easy as ignoring the attraction even a lifetime apart can’t erase…
From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.
For more action-packed stories, check out the other books in the Longview Ridge Ranch series by Delores Fossen:
Book 1: Safety Breach
Book 2: A Threat to His Family
Book 3: Settling an Old Score
Book 4: His Brand of Justice
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Good second chance romance combined with intense suspense. The story started with a rush as Eli awoke to the sounds of footsteps on his porch. He investigates and discovers a baby left there. While processing that sight, a car comes tearing up to his house, discharging a very irate ex-girlfriend. Ashlyn accuses Eli of kidnapping her baby girl. Before they can fully resolve the situation, someone starts shooting at them. It quickly becomes apparent that they’ve been set up, and they need to find out who is out to get them.
Eli and Ashlyn have a history together. They were a couple in high school but drifted apart. Then Ashlyn got caught up in a police operation that ended up with her friend Marta dead and Ashlyn badly injured. Ashlyn blames Eli for Marta’s death, which ended his hope for them getting back together.
I liked the rekindling of the feelings between Eli and Ashlyn. Eli has a protective streak a mile wide and won’t let Ashlyn out of his sight. Though there isn’t much relationship building described, Eli and Ashlyn are together 24/7, so it isn’t hard to believe in their reawakening emotions. They try to resist the occasional flare of attraction, realizing that the timing is bad, but it soon becomes too strong to ignore. I ached for Eli, who is still haunted by the events of that night, especially what happened to Ashlyn. I liked that in the time they spent together, Ashlyn realized that Eli wasn’t to blame for those events. I liked the ending and seeing them both let go of the past and admit their love.
The suspense of the story was fantastic. It began in the first few pages and didn’t let up until the end. The antagonism between Eli and Ashlyn dissipated quickly once they realized they’d been set up. The investigation into who is behind the attacks turns up several suspects with motive and opportunity. As the attacks escalate, each new piece of information raises more questions than it answers. The final confrontation had me on the edge of my seat as it all went down. A twist at the end took Eli and Ashlyn by surprise and confirmed one of my suspicions.
I enjoyed reading this book! I was drawn in from the beginning and had to keep reading to find out what is happening and how it ends! I recommend this book!!!!!
From the eruptive start to the very last scene the fast-paced tale of action and intrigue is a wild ride of survival; to stay alive, to find out who is behind the attacks and to deal with the combustible attraction still simmering between Texas Ranger Eli Slater and his ex, Ashlyn Darrow.
A lot is going on in this story, the non-stop action, the deadly attacks, and the multiple suspects, the tension between the exes, the efforts to keep the baby safe… I took a deep breath and jumped right in the middle of a tale that kept going forward like a high-speed race that left very little room for anything else than to fight back and hope for the best.
Eli and Ashlyn had known each other since childhood and they have a romantic history from their high school years. Now in the mids of the mayhem brought to their doorsteps, facing a potentially deadly situation, the realization that the attraction still burns piping hot seems like a lifeline for both of them. There is no chance to deal with what happened before or develop a relationship while guns are blazing and madmen are lurking around every corner, yet the emotional connection is like a fierce, strong, palpable pull towards the other.
I loved the premises of the story. I liked the characters, the tale itself was intense and frenzied, the suspense, the whodunit was filled with intensity. What I wished would have gotten more attention was the ardent second chance love story between Eli and Ashlyn.
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side
SETTLING AN OLD SCORE is 3rd Longview Ridge Ranch adventure by Delores Fossen. It is an action-packed thriller involving Texas Ranger Eli Slater and his ex, Ashlyn Darrow. A past tragedy destroyed their love, but a vulnerable newborn brings them back together. From page one to the last, I am thrust into their wild adventure of dodging bullets to stay alive and stay one step ahead whoever wants them dead. Too many suspects, so few clues. Delores Fossen is an amazing writer, and SETTLING AN OLD SCORE is chock-full of pent-up attraction between Eli and Ashlyn, the drama, and the danger that I couldn’t put the book down.
An intense fast-paced easy-to-read suspense mixed with enemies to lovers and second-chance romance, yup it’s a mouthful but oh so good. An engaging story from the beginning till the end and with a twist here and there, this book can be devoured easily in just one sitting and let’s not forget to mention loveable characters that I can’t not root for their happy ending.
Yes this book has a great interesting suspense story and a wonderful characters,
A perfect amount of suspense and romance and with a twist, I so recommend this book for a light suspense romance fans.
I have not read much from this author but I am fixing that. Intrigue line of reading has me hooked especially since of late a good intrigue fills my need alot lately. So my heart goes pitter patter when this one has a Texas Ranger in it. Eli is the cause whom also has a surprise but also a dangerous one. A baby used as a object kinda chapped my bottom. Ashlyn is having to learn trust again but they way she has to will not be a easy rode. This also is a second chance romance mixed in this intrigue which makes this a gold mine of a find. The thing with these two they are ones that you find easy to stick with them to solve what it is going on.
Settling An Old Score has a great premise, and it’s rather original to the genre, at least it is for me. In addition to that, the story is fast-paced and action-packed. It does stretch the suspension of disbelief, but a bit of escapism can be a good thing, especially in this new socially distanced world. My only complaint is that I felt a little like I was missing something, like maybe there was backstory I wasn’t seeing. Admittedly, I haven’t read the first two in the series, so maybe that’s it. Nevertheless, the action and suspense were good and kept my attention, so I have to say it’s worth the read, and I liked the author’s writing style, so I will watch for whatever comes next.
I was very much looking forward to reading Settling an Old Score, the third title in Delores Fossen’s Longview Ridge Ranch series, because I quite enjoyed the first book in the series, but from the very high intensity start of this novel, I felt totally lost, as if this story began in a book I didn’t read somehow, and that feeling continued until the very end. While it’s a quick, high intensity, action-packed, romantic suspense novel, I cannot in good conscience give it more than a 3-star rating.
As the novel opens, Texas Ranger Eli Slater hears a noise on his porch in the middle of the night and gets out of bed to investigate. What he finds is a small baby in a car seat, puzzled that there’s no note, no one out there waiting to take a shot at him, at least until a car comes racing toward him, and a woman gets out, pointing her gun at him, and he recognizes her–it’s Ashlyn Darrow, his former high school flame, and she’s ready to shoot him for kidnapping her recently adopted baby girl, Cora, and so began my confusion.
Eli and Ashlyn have a troubled history. Her best friend, Marta, a drug addict turned police informant, was killed in the drug bust in which Ashlyn was also shot 3 times, making her unable to have children of her own, and although Eli wasn’t the one who shot either of them, Ashlyn blames him for Marta’s death. That’s a whole lot of story we only get to hear second-hand, and it doesn’t end there, not even close.
After Eli talks Ashlyn out of shooting him, brings her and her baby inside his home, and convinces Ashlyn that they were was set up, bullets start flying, and Eli calls for back-up, as both he and Ashlyn finally accept the fact that someone wants Eli dead and Ashlyn in prison or dead, but who is behind this and why? Thus began the rest of my issues with his story, which introduced far too many characters, far too many possible motives, far too many attempts at killing Eli and Ashlyn, far too many attempts to kidnap baby Cora, far too many secondary lawmen, far too many assorted hit men, far too many shootouts, home invasions, and far too many complications to follow in a story in which my main feeling was total character confusion.
In addition, Settling an Old Score is supposed to be novel of romantic suspense, and while there’an overabundance of mystery and suspense in this whodunit, where was the romance? To say it was given short shrift is putting it mildly. While I realize that there are word/page limits in the Harlequin Intrigue imprint, this story needed either a much longer novel or far fewer characters, possible motives and assorted suspects. It also needed quite a bit more romance between the two primary characters.
In short, Ms Fossen has again given us a really good story idea which was unfortunately crammed into too short a novel to truly give her main characters some real depth, and give the reader a chance to sort through all the off-screen backstory and events. It’s not a bad read, it’s well thought out and intense, but Ms. Fossen needed more space for this novel to really develop it’s characters and plot.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
I expected to enjoy Delores Fossen’s “Settling an Old Score,” but it turned out to be even better than I had hoped. It was an intense, fast-paced read that grabbed my attention from the very first page and didn’t let go until the end. There was plenty of drama, action, and suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat, and while I was certainly concerned for the characters’ safety at times, I was never overly frightened. In addition, the investigation into who was behind the attacks on main characters Eli Slater and Ashlyn Darrow was very twisty, and I honestly wasn’t sure who was guilty until the very end of the book.
There wasn’t a whole lot of relationship building between former high school sweethearts Ashlyn and Eli, but because of the high-pressure situation and the fact that they were suddenly forced to spend every waking minute together after so much time apart, it wasn’t difficult for me to believe in their reawakening romantic feelings for one another. Just as importantly, Ashlyn came to understand that she was wrong to blame Eli for his part in an incident several years earlier that ended with her friend Marta’s death and serious injuries to Ashlyn herself.
Overall, I very much enjoyed “Settling an Old Score” and highly recommend it for all romantic suspense fans. I will definitely be picking up the other books in this series as soon as possible.
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
Fast-paced suspense story with plenty of action and great characters!
Ashlyn Darrow couldn’t believe what happened. Her beautiful adopted baby girl, Cora had been kidnapped. Two policemen broke into her house, used a stun gun on her and went to the nursery to take baby Cora. She heard them say they worked for Texas Ranger Eli Slater. There’s bad blood between her and Eli Slater, although she once loved him. That was before… He got her best friend Marta Seaver killed in a shootout in an alley in town and Ashley took three bullets at that time. Thus the reason for the bad blood between them. She blamed Eli for everything that happened that night. Okay. That was then and this is now. She rushed to Eli Slater’s house to confront him. But what she finds there shocks her. Eli is standing in his doorway with a baby car seat at his feet and when he recognizes her he immediately asks if she knows anything about the baby and if she is the one who left the baby on his doorstep. What? Turns out he was not responsible for kidnapping Cora and has gone into protection mode. They both realize there’s something not right about this whole scenario and that is proven correct when bullets are fired right into the house. What a nightmare! Ashlyn prays Eli can keep her and Cora safe and that she can fight the attraction to him that has returned.
Texas Ranger Eli Slater is awakened by footsteps on his front porch. When he goes to investigate he finds a baby in a car seat in front of his door but no one else. Then a car speeds up to his house and out steps… Ashlyn Darrow! With a gun pointed at him. Whoa! What’s that all about? After he gets the gun away from Ashlyn, gets her story and convinces her he had nothing to do with Cora’s kidnapping, things turn to chaos fast. Shots are fired and the danger to Ashlyn and Cora drives him into super protection mode. He contacted his brother, Sheriff Kellan Slater who appeared to help. Two men dressed as policemen are attacking his house. Eli and Kellan want to catch them and question them as to who hired them but the gun battle ended in their deaths. There are so many questions here and Eli is determined to get answers and keep Ashlyn and Cora safe.
Settling An Old Score by Delores Fossen is the third book in her Longview Ridge Ranch series. Delores Fossen’s stories are always chock-full of action and dangerous situations for the main characters. Check mark! Got that here in this story. This author does an excellent job of introducing credible suspects and leads the reader along to try to figure out the real culprit. Check. The Slater family sticks together and has each other’s back. Check. I love the storyline here. The plot is fast-paced and the characters well-developed. This is a standalone story but I’m sure readers would enjoy the first two books in the series, Safety Breach and A Threat To His Family.
I love a good Harlequin Intrigue and Delores Fossen didn’t let me down with Settling an Old Score! I loved Eli from the very beginning. He was down to earth, had common sense, but still a caring aura to him even as a Texas Ranger. Whether he was trying to dodge bullets or calming a worried mother, you could tell he cared.
You couldn’t help but feel for Ashlyn when her daughter was kidnapped and left on the doorstep of the person she blamed for the death of her friend years ago. Eli also happens to be an old flame that she wasn’t ‘quite’ over yet. (Read DEFINITELY still loves him) That said, NEVER mess with a momma bear’s cub and Ashlyn didn’t like finding Eli holding her cub.
Things go from bad to worse for Ashlyn and Cora immediately and she’s left to rely on Eli to keep them safe while they figure out who is after Ashlyn and why they’re setting Eli up to take the fall. Helped by his brothers and his devoted deputies, Eli follows the trail while trying to keep the woman he still loves safe. He knows the events that happened in their past was his fault, but as the thread is pulled, it becomes more obvious to the both of them that maybe those events had been out of their control, too.
There are a lot of bullets flying, a lot of people dying, and a lot of love happening in this intrigue. When the final twist comes you won’t be expecting it! I loved the story and the idea that I found a new series to read in the Longview Ridge Ranch so I can read about all of the characters I’ve already fallen in love with.