Killer Moves

3.75stars-intriguing and entertaining

3.75 stars- KILLER MOVES is the second full length instalment in Tawna Fenske’s contemporary adult ASSASSINS IN LOVE romantic suspense series . This is Matteo Bello, and Renee Lorenson’s story line. KILLER MOVES can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

NOTE: For fans of Tawna Fenske, there is a slight cross over with the author’s PONDEROSA RESORT series. Like the previous instalments, I do NOT consider the series a rom-com...there is nothing funny or humorous in the premise. Some of the retailers have marked the story as a romantic comedy, I am guessing because of the author’s history of writing the rom-com genre.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Matteo and Renee) KILLER MOVES follows in the wake of the reappearance of Matteo Bello who walked out of Renee’s life years before only to be targeted by a dirty cop, and sent to prison for a crime he did not commit but with his return Matteo discovers that all is not well in Renee’s life, as the woman he once called his own, is now on the run, with a young boy who looks exactly like our story line hero. Desperate to protect the family he never knew he had, Matteo becomes guardian and protector as the threesome find themselves desperate to stay one step ahead of an unknown predator. What ensues is the rebuilding romance and relationship between Matteo and Renee, and the potential fall-out as the past demands information, information Renee knows nothing about.

Renee Lorenson grew up in the foster care system as her father spent most of his time in and out of jail. On her own, Renee never expected to become a single mother but AJ is a reminder of what she can never have. Seeing Matteo Bello brought back too many memories from the past, memories of abandonment and mistrust, love and loss. Matteo Bello never intended to walk out of Renee’s life but life as a ‘hitman’ means never falling in love, and never pulling someone else into a lifestyle that is dangerous and dark.

The relationship between Renee and Matteo is one of second chances but Renee struggles to trust a man who walked out and never came back, a man whose history she never really knew. As Matteo slowly seduces the woman with whom he had fallen in love, our couple find themselves on a cross country journey where the bad guy is constantly just around the corner. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

The familiar secondary and supporting characters include Dante Goodman and twenty-six year old, vintner Jennifer Bello (Killer Instincts 1),Jennifer and Matteo’s sister Nicole, Renee’s son AJ, as well as Dr. Sebastian LaDouceur-Dante and Matteo’s comrade in arms. The requisite evil has many faces.

KILLER MOVES is a story of family and relationships, secrets and lies, greed and power. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the romance is seductive and captivating; the characters are dynamic and energetic. My only complaint about the series, is the limited back story for the series characters.