Toot's Book Reviews: Review & Giveaway : River Valley Series

Tour Hosted by

www.Tastybooktours.com

Book Blurb

Riverstar (The River Valley Collection #3)

After ending an affair with a married movie producer, feisty Hollywood makeup artist Bella Webber finds herself back in the quaint Oregon town of River Valley, the location of a famous director’s latest film. Despite trying to distract herself with work, Bella is unnerved by the proximity of Benjamin Fleck – a man who once so expertly made love to her she’d temporarily forgotten everything painful about her life. But now Ben sees her as nothing more than a heartbreak waiting to happen.

When an actress is found murdered after she’s seen leaving the restaurant Riversong with Ben, he is accused of the crime and arrested. Convinced of his innocence, the River Valley ‘gang of misfits’ band together to find the real killer, and Bella must face her biggest fear to ensure the truth is revealed.

Riverstar - Amazon (other links won't be available until release)

Toot's Review by Stacy Sabala

This is the third book in the River series. Riverstar picks up where Riverbend left off with Bella and Ben’s story. In the previous book Bella meets Ben while she is trying to figure out her life and getting out of her relationship with a married man. When her former married lover asks her to come back, she has to have closure. Ben doesn’t see that and believes she is no longer available. He leaves River Valley and her behind. Bella tried to reach out to Ben after she left so abruptly before and after she has figured out what she wants. However, Ben told her he wasn’t interested. She sees him again at Annie and Drake’s wedding. She still has feelings for him, but he came with a date and tells her again he is not interested.

A movie is being shot in River Valley and Hollywood descends on the small Oregon town. Bella is there to work on the movie as a make up artist. She is a bit broken hearted after Ben told her no. Her feelings for him haven’t changed in the weeks she has been gone.

Ben is staying with Drake and Annie while he gets the call center up and going. So Bella will see him on a regular basis. Ben continues to fight his attraction and feelings for Bella. He is scared of getting hurt again and he knows she could do a lot of damage if he lets her in.

Just as they are finding their way to each other, tragedy strikes the movie set. Bella and Ben find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation. It will test all the feelings and trust they have for each other.

I really like this series so far. I like the group of characters and how they support each other like their own family. With each book that comes out all past characters are accounted for.

The murder mystery was a great touch to this story. The reader is drawn in as Bella tries to help solve the murder. There are many ways the author could have taken the story, so the reader is constantly trying to figure out what is going to happen. I love books like this. Trying to solve the case with Bella and Peter keeps you reading to see if your theories are right. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

Author Info

Tess Thompson is a novelist and playwright with a BFA in Drama from the University of Southern California. In 2011, she released her first novel, Riversong, which subsequently became a bestseller.

Like the characters in the River Valley collection, Tess is from a small town in Oregon. She currently lives in a suburb of Seattle, Washington with her two young daughters, Emerson and Ella. She is inspired daily by the view of the Cascade Mountains from her home office window.

Tess is working on her next novel and regularly blogs about her journey as a mother, author and friend at www.tesswrites.com.

Author Links
www.tesswrites.com
@tesswrites
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTessThompson?fref=ts
http://www.amazon.com/Tess-Thompson/e/B004W3WOTG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
http://pinterest.com/tesswrites/

~Giveaway~