One secret, one nightmare, one lie. You guess which is which.
1. I have the scar of a gunshot on my forehead.
2. I have willfully misrepresented my identity to the US military.
3. I’m the new mother of a seven-year-old girl.
Kellen Adams suffers from a yearlong gap in her memory. A bullet to the brain will cause that. But she’s discovering the truth, and what she learns changes her life, … to the brain will cause that. But she’s discovering the truth, and what she learns changes her life, her confidence, her very self. She finds herself in the wilderness, on the run, unprepared, her enemies unknown–and she is carrying a priceless burden she must protect at all costs. The consequences of failure would break her. And Kellen Adams does not break.
Love this series featuring a fascinating kick-ass heroine, Kellen Adams, who has a year-long memory gap due to a gunshot wound. She’s also got a lot of secrets. In this story Kellen is on the run from the bad guys and she’s not alone. She’s got her seven year old daughter with her. Dodd’s high-energy style is sleek and exciting.
Talk about a page-turner! Fast paced and will have you on the edge of your seat. Great read!
When your whole life is built on a lie and you are living a constant nightmare it is difficult to trust anyone, even the man you love. For Kellen Adams, the person she trusts the least is herself. A year-long memory gap, a nightmare and a seven-year-old daughter she never knew threaten to undermine the fragile foundation she has built after running off to join the military.
Someone wants her dead and is willing to go to great lengths to see that it happens, but Kellen Adams isn’t easy to kill. But she has a vulnerability. Though she has tried to avoid getting close to her daughter, when the little girl shows up on a job, she discovers quickly how easy it would be for someone to get to her through the child. After surviving the job, she starts planning a wedding and if she survives, she might live to see her happy ever after.
This is an awesome story, I want to go back and read the rest of the series.
Vanessa Johansson is a fantastic narrator adding her own dramatic reading to an already wonderful story. Being a fan of audiobooks, it is truly important to find the right narrator for your story, Vanessa gives Kellen the voice that rings true to character.
What Doesn’t Kill Her is a well-written and engaging romantic suspense novel. It is fast-paced with plenty of action. While What Doesn’t Kill Her can be read alone, but I highly recommend reading Dead Girl Running first. The summary just does not do Kellen’s situation justice. Rae is the highlight of What Doesn’t Kill Her. She is an active, intelligent and sassy little girl. Her witty dialogue will have you chuckling along with her obsession for pink, purple, heroes and her princess dolls (the poor dolls). Rae has just found her mommy and she has no intention of a lack of bonding get in the way. These parents are going to have their hands full with the spunky and mischievous Rae. Kellen should have known not to take a job from Nils Brooks. He deserves everything Rae, Max and Kellen dish out. I started reading What Doesn’t Kill Her and just kept going until I reached the end. The book is character driven with plenty of action. Christina Dodd created developed characters that suit the story. I can understand why Kellen hid under the bushes to avoid Rae at times as well as the large Di Luca clan. There is a funny scene where an event is planned under the same bushes. Avid mystery readers will be able to pinpoint the evildoer, but I loved the chase. I like that when bad things happen it is not described in gory detail. There is foul language sprinkled throughout the book (just letting you know). I do want to warn readers that we are left with a cliffhanger at the end of What Doesn’t Kill Her (and we must wait until October). I am giving What Doesn’t Kill Her 5 out of 5 stars (I loved it). I enjoyed the suspense, action, intrigue, humor, mystery and romance in this thrilling adventure. Not many writers can create a book that makes a reader feel a range of emotions. I cannot wait to read Stranger She Knows when it releases in October. Buckle in for another exciting adventure with Kellen and her sidekick, Rae in What Doesn’t Kill Her.
Kellen Adams has filled in parts of her memory but still has gaps, many gaps, including how she became a mother of a 7 year old girl. Kellen is now living with Max and Ray at the Di Luca winery and trying very hard to acclimate to being a mother and getting to know her new family. Being out of sorts, she accepts a job to transport an artifact into the wilderness with little to no information and when everything goes sideways and her partner tries to kill her she discovers she has a stowaway, her daughter Ray. Ray is a precocious girl who thinks it is time to “bond” and this is how they are going to do it. Twists and turns and bad guys chasing them through the mountains. Who is chasing them? At least they do bond and Kellen’s mother instinct comes in full force and don’t get between her and her baby. Max also catches up to them and is instrumental in saving them in the end and after sending Ray back to the winery finally has time for bonding with Kellen of his own. This was a good one and make sure to read this all the way to the end to get those answers and a special twist at the end to set up the next book.
I’ll read anything by Christina Dodd and this one did not disappoint—she just keeps getting better!
6 stars. Awesome Awesome book
I’m usually not big on thrillers.
This series works for me because the characters are so well developed.
Plenty of excitement involving interesting people.
Kellen Adams is slowly recovering memories of how her life connects to Max Di Lucca, but she is having a difficult time connecting with her seven year old daughter who was born during her time in a coma. She jumps at the chance to get away to do a courier mission delivering a priceless artifact to be verified by and eccentric authenticator who lives as a hermit up in the mountains. Rae Di Lucca decides to stowaway in the courier vehicle so that she can bond with her mom and it turns out to be quite the bonding experience as they survive betrayal and are hunted by two teams – one for the artifact and the other to kill Kellen. In the meantime, Max is on his way to find the two loves of his life. I loved this book and can hardly wait for the next installment to find who will try to kill Kellen next.
Excellent story. New levels of intrigue. Tense and action-packed suspense, and fun relationship building between Kellen and her daughter, Rae. Max and Kellen are really good together. There’s also an exciting cliffhanger for the entire family. In fact, I took a star off because the ending was not a subtle hook of more story to come, but rather, a head-whipping demand and exclamation point. I’m enough of a romance junkie to want a bit more HEA for characters before things hit the crapper again. But that’s just me.
You can always count on Christina Dodd to create memorable characters and a fast-paced, exciting plot! I’ve been loving every page of this trilogy and can’t wait to see how she finishes it out.
The long-awaited installment is finally here. Once again Kellen Adams is back and with Max Di Luca fighting those who mean harm to their family. Now living on the Di Luca Winery with Max, her daughter, and her mother-in-law Kellen is finally dealing with her past and trying to get to know her daughter, Rae. Kellen must fight for a better future for herself and her family. All is not sunshine for Kellen as she is called by Nils Brooks to take on another job for him that will lead to danger and bumps in the road for her, Max and their daughter, Rae. I am trying to wait patiently for the next installment.
I loved this book.
Kellen is on the run from the bad guys and she’s got her seven year old daughter with her. I thought it was complete when she got out of that situation BUT there was still half the book left. I forgot #1 – I have the scar of a bullet wound on my forehead!!!
Kellen Adams has been given a simple job of transporting an ancient antiquity to a reclusive restorer up in the mountains. However, the trip could prove to be deadly as she fights her way through the wilderness with not just one precious package but two. This is the second book in the Cape Charade series and I have to admit that I did not read the first book. However, within a few pages, I was fairly caught up and involved in the story that was one breathless adventure after another. Kellen is a strong and independent female character, who has suffered unbelievable tragedy in her life, causing her to shut herself off from everyone. But now that she has a 7-year old daughter, Rae, and the return of her lover, Max, into her life, can she learn to once again open up her heart and learn to love and be loved in return. The next book in this series comes out in October, and it’s going to be a long wait to find out what happens next to Kellen. Disclosure: I am voluntarily reviewing this book and all opinions are my own.
Wow just wow, I was so eager for this story after the cliff in book one and let me tell you it was more than worth the wait…. The emotional thrilling, spine tingling twists and out of nowhere unexpected turns are no less exciting this time around….
Kellen Adams is still one of my favorite all time charters and she is just as kick ass and endearing in this journey as the last. The danger, secrets and slowly revealing truths are just as engaging and I for one look forward to the next adventure.
This is a fantastic romantic thriller. I laughed and cried. I did not put this down until I was done. This is the second book in this series and it just keeps getting better. You will want to read the first book so you remember all of what happened to Kellen. I love the characters throughout the story, especially Kellen and Rae. Rae is such a breath of fresh air. The author definitely has children or was great at the research. I so recommend this book. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
When you get lucky enough to be chosen for an advanced reader group, jump on it! I love this author and everything she writes so of course I am excited.
This series is dear to me because of the settings in the Northwest. If you haven’t been there, you’ll feel like you have once you’re finished reading many of her stories. In this one, she blends the words so well that you feel each and every step that Kellen Adams takes. And she takes a lot! You see, Kellen isn’t really Kellen but she knows that she missed a year of her life. And when she found out that she had a daughter, in no way was she prepared for that. And she feels guilty because, well, she is a mother whether she feels like it or not and that seems to come with the territory.
When she takes a job to deliver a valuable artifact, her seven year old daughter stows away wanting to bond with her. Things go sideways and they are on the run. It’s funny and it’s scary and it just makes you want to cry, especially if you have a daughter of your own who pulled her share of stunts as a child!
When Kellen and Rae make it back home, all Max wants is his family. It seems his daughter has bonded with her mother in more ways than he expected. There is never a dull moment in their lives, and he’s happy with that so long as they are together.
No spoilers here – read it and see! I know you will love it as I did. And if you haven’t read the other books in the series, do that first so you’ll understand some of the background a little more.
This is book 2 in the Cape Charade series. OMG! This book was so good. Kellen is suffering from memory loss. But she’s so strong even though she doesn’t think she is. I would really recommend reading Book 1 before you read this one just so that you can know everything that’s going on. I really enjoyed seeing more of her daughter, Rae, who is involved in the story. There’s a lot of things going on but you are involved in it all. If you enjoy love and adventure, along with just being part of the story, then this is the book for you. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to find out what more can happen to Kellen, Max and Rae. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book that I received from the author.
The second novel in the Cape Charade series, What Doesn’t Kill Her continues the story of our heroine Kellen Adams. After finding out she’d had a daughter while in a coma, Kellen, Max and Rae are trying to ease into a family unit. Suffering from PTSD after her years in Afghanistan, Kellen is having the tougher time bonding with her new daughter. Needing a break, she takes a side job delivering an archeological find to a recluse in the wilderness with a man she doesn’t know. On the way, the man tries to kill her, Kellen evades the kill, and finds out her new seven year old daughter Rae has hidden in the back of the van in the hopes of bonding with her mother. Escaping into the wilderness, Kellen and her pink sparkly daughter find out that they are being hunted by two teams of men. One is out to collect the valuable item they are carrying, and the other is out to kill Kellen. This quick trip has suddenly turned into the run for their lives.
Kellen started off so out of her element as a mom, but as she and her daughter evaded capture Kellen found that she did in fact care deeply for this little girl. Kellen’s maternal instincts are slightly skewed from the traumatic events in her past but she does teach Rae some invaluable lessons in self defense that were dramatic and sweet at the same time. Imagine trying to relay to a seven year old girl that they were being hunted by people who were trying to hurt them without scaring the crap out of her. There were some seriously funny conversations between these two that really added a lot of maternal warmth to Kellen’s character. For Kellen, this trip was a boot camp to motherhood.
I really liked Max in Dead Girl Running and he was even more likable as a dad and love interest to Kellen in this novel. He was alpha male enough to want to sweep in and keep his girls safe, but smart enough to let Kellen use her skills and provide her own safety. That’s not to say that he didn’t want to kick ass and take prisoners, but this was a woman who took charge of her own life and didn’t wait for anyone to save her. The two of them were very well balanced and I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow into a romantic one.
What Doesn’t Kill Her was even better than Dead Girl Running, and I loved that novel! There was some great dialog between Rae and Kellen that provided comic relief to what would’ve been a non stop action novel. Those moments of warmth between mother and daughter allowed the reader to build a deeper connection with Kellen, and I cared even more when she and Max reunited as a couple. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next Cape Charade book, Stranger She knows. It can’t come soon enough for me!
I was given a free ARC of this book for an honest review and it was honest!
What Doesn’t Kill Her by Christina Dodd is the second book in the Cape Charade series and it swept me up into Kellen’s life from the first chapter.
Kellen Adams is continuing to remember her past and becoming more open to both Max and Rae. She is definitely a warrior but is struggling with emotions in this one as she is only now remembering the time before she was shot. This time we get to see and hear more about Max – his thoughts and his feelings regarding Kellen and Rae. Rae is absolutely the best secondary character I’ve ever read. She is charming, stubborn and won my heart. Ms. Dodd’s characters were strongly developed in Dead Girl Running and yet readers will learn even more about them in this story. The plot was quickly paced and filled with action and suspense. Although the clues were there among the twists, I was totally in the dark until the spine tingling reveal. I couldn’t put the book down and the ending has me totally hooked for the next book in the series, Strangers She Knows.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. All of the above opinions are my own.