Review: Red Nights by Shari J Ryan

Title: Red Nights
Author: Shari J. Ryan
Published: June 18th, 2015
Rating: 

I'm Felicity Stone, a twenty-five-year-old with my whole life ahead of me. Well, until recently. I didn't do it. Why would they think I did? Why would I want my twin brother dead? Why is everyone looking at me like I'm a criminal? Well, everyone except him... Hayes Peyton, the charmingly beautiful stranger I met in the park at midnight; a totally legitimate place to meet the man of my dreams. Plus, he knows I'm innocent. Believing him is easy. So very easy. Maybe too easy? But when you hear things like: 'All good is laced with some bad, and everything you think is the truth, is nothing more than a blatant lie,' it makes you question reality.

Review

I normally don’t read novels in this genre but I have come across a few novels which I have enjoyed in the past. I was a bit sceptic but as soon as I read the first few pages I knew I’d made the right choice!

I loved that Shari Ryan delved straight into the action again a great beginning I must say! Definitely a beginning which urges the reader or compels them to read on as it’s all such a blur and you want to find out what happens next.

I liked that this was not typical novel with good endings and ‘happily ever afters’ but there was grief and it was real. Felicity was a great protagonist to tell the story from, after having the perfect controlled life and being such a ‘Miss Perfect’ (Reminding me of myself!) all of a sudden she was thrown into the tides of unhappiness, shock and loss that she had to cope with.

Hayes Peyton! What a beautifully handsome name!! Very fitting to the character. What I loved about Hayes the most was that he was a mostly outspoken person and although I do love mysterious guys, now I’m not too sure! He had a bit of both come to think of it and I loved his lame and not so lame jokes…I was laughing out loud...honest! I liked how he always had a way to make Felicity feel better and that line with the ‘Red Nights’…that was such a heart-warming and beautiful thing to do! Although seeming like one of those guys who has it altogether I did enjoy his story and how it was developed through the novel with secrets being revealed as the story progressed. I liked how Shari gave insight into his story but made it another journey that we have to travel through to find out rather than giving it to you all on a silver platter.

The other characters were brilliant also, to me Shari included a variety of characters and made them real, made you trust them and then surprised you constantly which kept me reading further and further!

I loved the suspense, I loved how Felicity was independent and she didn’t go out trusting the ‘knight on shining armour’ who came to her rescue but rather she was cautious and found looked out for herself and searched for the truth in others herself.

I have to say the storyline was capturing, having to deal with your twin’s loss but also having to make sense and move past the guilt and shock was one hell of a journey! To top it off, the case, her being possibly guilty of her own brother’s murder - it was all a mystery and I loved the detective feel to the story as well as Mr Detective Hayes ;) To say I was surprised would be an understatement, Shari Ryan had me guessing until the very end and even when I thought I knew, I didn’t! I love when an author catches you by surprise and that what Shari did, again and again! My first Shari Ryan novel and I loved it. I’ll definitely be giving her other novels a read…especially the upcoming ‘Ravel’ which I read a sneak chapter of at the end of this novel, which was a nice surprise to finish it off! J

Truly a beautifully written novel full of every emotion you can imagine! This is one hell of a rollercoaster of a book so be ready before you pick it up!

Note: I received a review copy of the book from Booktrope via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!