Stop Me

Brenda Novak continues her wonderful trilogy with Stop Me. Jasmine Stratford receives a cryptic delivery in the mail post marked from New Orleans the is enclosed with a bracelet that her sister was wearing the moment she disappeared over fifteen years earlier. Romain Fornier, a man she meets in New Orleans also had a similar situation happen to him nearly four years ago when his daughter was kidnapped. These two join forces to stop the monster that is responsible for the kidnapping and murdering of the innocent. This is a harrowing tale that will keep the reader on their toes as the two follow clue after clue to track down a monster.

Trust Me was the 1st book in The Last Stand trilogy (and the first novel I've ever read by Brenda Novak). I enjoyed Trust Me very much but was a bit disappointed with the romance side of the story. Stop Me did a much better job in that department. Romain & Jasmine's relationship sizzled and the torment each of them felt for their feelings was very well explained. The suspense/mystery was superb as well! Can't wait to read Watch Me next!

Stop Me (Last Stand, Book 2) Romain Fournier wants nothing to do with people. Four years earlier his young daughter Adele was brutally murdered, and he served two years for the shooting of the man responsible. Now he's out, living a lonely life on the Louisiana bayou...until Jasmine Stratford finds him. Jasmine is still searching for the man who abducted her younger sister Kimberly sixteen years ago. When her sister's bracelet is mailed to her in a package bearing a New Orleans stamp, she leaves Sacramento and the Last Stand office to do her own sleuthing. A similarity in the Fournier case and her sister's abduction sends her on the trail to Romain, but he chooses to keep the past in the past. Each carries a boatload of baggage, however, an undeniable sexual attraction overwhelms both of these well-drawn and intriguing characters. As clues begin to appear and events to unfold, Jasmine and Romain are caught up in a chilling and sometimes gruesome hunt for the truth. The sex sizzles, the suspense dominates and Ms. Novak superbly manages to captivate the reader as she delves into the criminal mind. This is a complex story that will keep you guessing right up to the final pages. I'm a Brenda Novak fan, so I expect her books to be good. Stop Me, the sequel to Trust Me in The Last Stand trilogy surpassed my expectations and then some. Highly recommended.

Book two in the last stand trilogy focuses on Jasmine, a woman who is determined to find the sister that was kidnapped 16 years earlier. After receiving the bracelet her sister was wearing when she disappeared in the mail, Jaz heads to New Orleans, where the package was post marked from. She finds similar traits in the kidnapping and murder of Romains daughter Adele. After her murderer is let go, Romain takes matters into his own hands and kills the guy on the courthouse steps - or does he? Jaz and Romain team up to figure out what happened to the ones the loved. They find themselves in the middle of something bigger than either of them could have imagined. Did the wrong man die for Adele's murder? Is Jaz's sister Kimberly dead or alive? Did Romain kill an innocent man? While Jaz and Romain work together to solve these mysteries - if they should happen to fall in love along the way - well, that's not so bad is it?

Brenda Novak just keeps getting better and better. I liked Trust Me, but I liked Stop Me even more. It's edgier, creepier, darker than Trust Me. I could not put the book down. It was suspenseful and kept me guessing till the end, and the romance was touching. Jasmine and Romain are haunted, hurt characters who try not to care for each other, but together they find healing and love. The conclusion was heart-wrenching. As with Trust Me, I would have liked a more romantic conclusion, but that didn't take away from the book. Don't miss this series.