Cold Case Sergeant, Ronan O’Mara, is set to return to work at the Boston Police Department after the birth of his first child, when a knock at the door brings back a part of his past he thought was gone forever: his father, John. The only thing that Ronan knows about his father is that the man was a no-good drunk who was gone from Ronan’s life before his first birthday. Now that John is back, all … all he wants is a chance to tell his side of the story. Not surprisingly, Ronan wants no part of this reunion.
No one is more stunned by this turn of events than psychic, Tennyson Grimm. He’s been in contact with Ronan’s deceased mother, Erin, since he and Ronan started working together. Surely if there was more to the story about Ronan’s father, Erin would have told him. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Tennyson is left to navigate the minefield of this complicated father-son relationship, while trying to support the man he loves.
When John O’Mara finally gets the opportunity to explain where he’s been for the last thirty years and, more importantly, why he stayed away, will Ronan and Tennyson jump in to help him solve the decades old crime that kept him away from his family? Or will Ronan stand by what he’s always believed to be the truth about his father? A truth that might just turn out to be dead wrong.
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I was surprised to find some situational similarities to things going on in my own life and I’m sad to say that it made beginning the book quite difficult. Once I went beyond myself and read for escape into a world I truly enjoy, the Crew gave me the good feels I was hoping for. There were many instances while reading that I could predict what would happen and quite a few others that surprised me. I found both elements quite comforting because it was true to the Cold Case Crew formula while also adding a couple surprises to keep it different and interesting.
But Ronan…forever Ronan will be my favorite. The man he is, the man he has become, to the man he’ll grow to be…he has stunned me over and over again. With so much love, rationality, heart, determination, empathy, tenderness, and understanding he’s pretty much the perfect male lead for me. He’s quirky and silly when it’s appropriate, he still has a bit of an Irish temper, and all of it is softened by how he shows his love and support and then strengthened by his sheer will.
The villain was a bit predictable and I wish the questions and feelings had been manifest into an actual suspect so they could get to the answer faster so more time could have been spent on Ronan and John. Their reunion and reconciliation kind of took a back seat to a few too many non-crucial things as well as the overall mystery so I’m hoping that we’ll see more of their journey back together as the series continues.
At some moments it felt like the point continually made over and over regarding Ronan’s concerns about John wasn’t the one that needed that level of repetition. Instead, less on the possibility of the crime and more on the emotional separation and John’s separation from the family he professes to love more than his own life. I won’t lessen the importance of the ramifications of possible guilt because it’s definitely a huge deal, I just think that the emphasis on that one issue was a little heavy handed, a little overdone.
Honestly, at the end of the day, there’s something addicting about this series. Even when I had my doubts a few books ago about where the individual characters were going I couldn’t give up on them as a whole. Their family is growing in so many ways, each person is gaining depth, each trial strengthens and reveals a new facet to them. I’m definitely eager for more.
*WARNING* intended for mature audiences
Great story. Great characters. Well written. Lots of action. I like this for Ronan and his hand picked family. This series is best read in order.
**********Contains Spoilers**********
I really enjoyed this book. I’m glad Ronan got the answers on why John, his dad left and never returned for over 30 years. This book features family reunions, hits by the mob and forgiveness. I’m glad Ronan didn’t just forgive his father straight away, even after Ten read John while he was telling him and Ronan what had happened for him to be away for so long, it still took him until he got a confession that John didn’t mu*der anyone before he was more comfortable with slowly getting to know him as a man. As the series continues we should see more of Ronan and John’s relationship and maybe John gets one of the psychics to read him so him and Erin can have a reconciliation, as they seemed like they still loved each other even after being apart and never seeing each other in person again. Will John and Kaye get along with living in the same apartment building as when they were living at Greeley’s house they weren’t too friendly with each other but i guess only time will tell. I’m looking forward to reading the next book and I’d recommend this book, series and author to anyone.
Our happy couple is dealing with Ronan’s angst about having to return to work after his paternity leave, when Ronan’s dad suddenly appears after having been missing since Ronan was a baby. Drama ensues, tempers flare, and the gang gets to work together to check out the claims John O’Mara makes to explain his long absence.
I love this series, and I found this book to be a wonderful addition. I love seeing the characters, especially Ronan, change and grow over time. I still hold a grudge against Ten’s mother, but I understand his desire to find a way to forgive and let her be part of his and his daughter’s lives. All the characters here are still as loveable as always, and I feel happy and warm when I read their sometimes snarky but always supportive interaction. This book is another winner in a series I adore. I’m ready for more!
Ronan Expects A Friend… And Gets A Father. This was my first book of Pine’s long running Cold Case Pychic books after having read both of the spinoff series Ghost Detective books so far. And despite being book 11, a reader truly can come into this series and not be lost – said reader will just know how several things turn out over the previous 10 books that will be spoilers to those tales, but with this being a romance series to begin with most of them are fairly obvious anyway.
In this particular tale, series original Ronan O’Mara answers the door as he heads back to his first day at work in several months expecting a friend… and finds his father there, asking for his help. The mystery here is fairly typical of Pine in my experience, with mostly detective based questioning people and finding evidence of things with a few tense moments of confrontation in semi-dangerous situations.
Great read, and a solid entry point into the series if you don’t mind the mild spoilers. Very much looking forward to more.