Book Review–Trust Fall

About the Book:

Book: Trust Fall

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release date: April 30, 2024

Protecting her without her knowledge might get them both killed.

Grief has held Eve “Kensi” Kensington captive long enough. Determined to move on after the death of her fiancé six years ago, Kensi moves to St. Alyn to help Ezra with the new boat book business. That there’s a great therapist on the island is just a bonus.

When the West Coast Agency learns that the former fiancée of a deceased informant is under the radar, Simon Garver is tasked to protect her—without her knowledge, if possible. Great. Listening in on her therapy sessions might be the worst thing he’s ever had to do as an agent.

Nope… scrap that. Falling for his client takes the cake.

When Kensi learns Simon has been keeping secrets from her, she’s done. Too bad the arrival of a guy sent to “take care of her” means she needs him. She’ll cooperate until she’s safe, toss the trust exercises her therapist has insisted on in the trash, and get back to her job on Ezra’s boat.

If only her heart would listen to the plan…

Take a trip to the Suamalie Islands where palm trees sway, the sand and sea pulse with life, and the people will steal your heart.

My Thoughts:

I signed up for a review copy of Trust Fall because of the author. I love Chautona Havig’s writing, so I read every book by her that I possibly can. This one was especially fun because it is part of two series at once. Not only is it part of the Suamalie Island series, featuring Ezra, who we met and loved in Under the Hibiscus and The Title Wave, it also features The Agency from another series that I enjoyed.

I would consider Trust Fall to be one of Chautona’s “fluffier” stories. While I really enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down, I didn’t feel like it was as meaty as well as some of hers have been. As with the other Agency Files books, there was more of a focus on keeping the threatened person safe than on personal growth. There was also a fairly strong romantic focus in the story. So, while I enjoyed it, it was not one of my favorite books by Chautona. However, if you love light romantic suspense, this would be the perfect book to pick up.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her on the web and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

More from Chautona:

Sometimes life doesn’t go as you’d planned.  Like at all. You think you’re going to have a great wedding, an idyllic honeymoon, followed by the perfect, picket-fence existence with the love of your life.

Then some crazy author comes along and rips it all away. Fiancé? Dead. Honeymoon?  Not hardly.  And by the time she’s done, that fence feels like someone rammed those pickets into her heart.  All in a day’s work, and all before the first word of the story.

It’s a wonder that characters don’t revolt or something.

Look, here’s the deal. I just thought it would be cool to bring my Agency Files to Suamalie.  And for that, we needed a tough background, because The Agency doesn’t get involved in disputes over spa appointments or boat rental rescues (most of the time).

So, after many hours of plotting and planning, I finally figured out how to torture my Kensi—I mean, give her an interesting backstory—while not tormenting readers.  Too much.  It’s been a couple of years (okay, it’s been six!), she’s having trouble coping, and…. Then what?  How does The Agency fit in?

That started off as a conundrum that got really cool the more I thought about it.  I mean, here’s the thing. The Agency is a protective entity. They swoop in and protect people from imminent danger while law enforcement does their job to remove that threat.  Sometimes, as in Justified Means, this involves “involuntary” protection where they extract someone from his or her life until it’s safe to return—whether that person wants to be extracted or not.

I didn’t want that this time, but I also didn’t want Kensi to know she was in danger.  So, off she goes to visit her friend Ezra in the Suamalie Islands and there she meets Ezra’s therapist fiancé.  This much was easy to figure out.

And then it hit me.  What if the agent was secretly protecting her?  She doesn’t know it… but it’s happening.

Now I feel like Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove.  “Oh, yeah. It’s all coming together.”

Sometimes, I feel like Trust Fall is more romcom suspense than straight-up romantic suspense, but that’s okay, right?

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