Review: If You See Her by Shiloh Walker

After reading the first book in this trilogy, If You Hear Her, I was very excited to dive into If You See Her. The serial killer plot spans the whole trilogy, the romances are the only things resolved in the individual books, so I couldn’t wait to see what came next. The first book was great! And the way it ended whetted my appetite to see what would become of Hope and how she and Remy would eventually hook up.

If you’ve read the first book, you are probably familiar with Hope’s past. She was abused by her husband for years. Not just physical abuse, either. She was cut off from everyone and lived in a small town that worshipped her husband. Her attempts to tell the truth about him were ignored, and he was eventually able to convince everyone that she was mentally unbalanced. After trying to commit suicide to escape him, he manipulated the system and had her committed. She’s been free of him for two years, but she has still not recovered. Her best friend, Law, finally got her to quit running and come stay with him. But things got complicated in the last book and now no one is sure what Hope will do.

*****NOW IS THE TIME TO STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST BOOK*****

This book picks up right after the first one left off. Hope is suspected of being behind the attack on Law and everyone thinks she tried to kill herself again. Remy is put in the uncomfortable situation of having to dig into her past to find out how disturbed she really is. He doesn’t think she’s guilty, but he’s afraid that his attraction to her might be clouding his judgment since the facts don’t support his belief. While working to find out the truth, he discovers more about her past and has to come to terms with how impossible a relationship between them might be. But the attraction between them won’t go away, regardless of any hesitation on their parts.

Jumping into this book, I thought that we would spend a lot more time on the serial killer plotline than we did. It was still there in the background, but we didn’t get to see any further investigation on it or find out anything new. I found that really disappointing. This book was all about Hope, her past, and her mental state—both in the past and in the present. I found her interesting, and liked the slow building romance between her and Remy, but I found myself impatient at the same time. The lack of suspense made the book feel like it was dragging by the end.

We had the development of a stalker pop up, which the serial killer got involved with, but it didn’t satisfy my craving for more development on the original storyline. I actually found it pretty unbelievable that the serial killer was tied into the stalker plot at all. I never understood why the woman he wanted to protect was different from all the rest, and I ended up feeling like she was different only because the serial killer had to be tied into the story somehow. I still found the story enjoyable to read, since I enjoy the way Walker writes, but I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that this will be my least favorite of the trilogy. It felt like a bridge book and that was just not what I wanted or expected.

Despite my issues with the book, I still enjoyed a lot of things about it. Hope, for one. The events of the last book were finally enough for her and instead of crumbling, she developed some steel. She finally gained strength and sass and started to recover from the abuse she had suffered. Remy was so nervous about spooking her that it was cute to watch him slowly try to woo her. I really enjoyed them together. I also liked seeing more development with Remy’s nephew, Brody. I felt bad for the kid and I hope that one day his dad will stop being a douche. I won’t hold my breath, though.

For all you Ezra and Lena fans, there are some parts with them in this book too! There was a development at the end involving them that made me grin. Unfortunately, Law lost some of my admiration in this book. I’ve always loved his rock solid friendship with Hope and his devotion toward her, so it was like a bucket of cold water in my face to see that shaken. And for such a lame reason! Hope may have taken steps toward forgiving Law, but I’m still ticked. Hopefully he’ll convince me he’s not such a thoughtless little turd when I start reading his book.

Once again, the author impressed me with her realistic characters and engaging writing. I may have been disappointed with the lack of development about the murders, but I guess that just means the author is saving it all up for the third book.

Favorite Quote:

“You know, you didn’t have any problem cussing last night around me.”

He snorted and rolled out of bed. “There’s a difference between cussing and talking dirty. And my mother would have my hide for cussing around a lady.”

“But not talking dirty?”

“Well, I don’t see you telling her.”

Rating: C+
If You See Her by Shiloh Walker
January 31st 2012 by Ballantine Books
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