I'm excited to bring you on a blog tour with review for Save Your Breath by Melinda Leigh! Below my review, you'll find a fascinating interview with the author and a link to a Rafflecopter giveaway, so don't forget to go all the way down to the end of the post!
My review:
I really enjoy the Morgan Dane books, but be warned; this is not the place to jump into the series. Start at the beginning and read through, because by the time you get to this book, the sixth in the series, the principal characters will start to feel like friends and you’ll be much more invested in the story here when Lincoln Sharpe’s girlfriend Olivia is kidnapped at the very beginning of the book.
Morgan and her two partners in their PI business, Lincoln and Morgan’s partner Lance, spend most of the book chasing red herrings trying to find Olivia. Persistence and good old-fashioned detective work eventually pay off, however, and there’s a dramatic confrontation to rescue Olivia and save her life. I have to say the reason she was kidnapped was totally a new one on me and, as a writer myself, made me laugh, but it’s true that publishing can be as cutthroat a business as any other and with a big contract at stake, the motive was certainly established.
Long-term readers of the series who are invested in Morgan and Lance as a couple will find the ending of this one very satisfying. I’m not sure if it’s the case, but this does read rather as though the series is ending here, and if it does I’d say it’s a pretty good spot to close it out. I very much enjoyed the read, and the series overall. I give it five stars, but with the proviso that this isn’t a standalone and I don’t think you’ll enjoy it all that much if you haven’t read the rest of the series.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley and a representative of the publisher.
Author Interview: Melinda Leigh
1) Your newest release features two of your most popular characters, attorney Morgan Dane and P.I. Lance Kruger. While this couple has a habit of getting involved in difficult (and dangerous) criminal cases, the mystery in this book is much more personal for them.
In Save Your Breath, Morgan and Lance aren’t working for a client. They’re looking for Sharp’s girlfriend, Olivia Cruz, who vanished from her home in the middle of the night. After Olivia goes missing, Sharp realizes his feelings for her run much deeper than he’d thought. As the investigation continues, with no trace of Olivia, the usually calm and centered PI begins to unravel. Morgan and Lance had always depended on Sharp for his insight and stability. Save Your Breath reverses these established roles.
2) How does the personal nature of the crime affect the other characters?
Morgan and Lance are also thrust into unaccustomed roles. In the previous five books, Sharp has been the source of stability. He is their rock. Now Morgan and Lance have to step up and help him hold it together. The book deliberately challenges the cohesiveness of the team.
3) The story starts with a terrifying scene where Olivia is kidnapped. It is raw and visceral and plays on everyone's worst fear—being unsafe in our own home. How do you get into the mindset for crafting this kind of scene?
I close my eyes and envision the scene in my mind from beginning to end. Everyone has been woken by a strange noise in the middle of the night. We’ve all stared at the ceiling, listening for the sounds of a stranger moving through the house. Being attacked in our sleep is a basic, primal fear. That’s the vulnerable feeling I wanted to generate in the reader, so I imagined it happening to me. Basically, I’m channeling the overactive imagination that got me into so much trouble as a child.
4) Morgan and Lance are planning a wedding and solidifying Lance's place as a step-dad to the Dane girls, all the while dealing with terrible crimes around them. How do they disconnect from the violence around them in order to create a space just for themselves and their family?
The family demands their full attention, and in their world of chaos and crime, their home is what keeps them sane. Both Morgan and Lance operate best when they have the support and love of their family to return to at the end of the day.
5) Can you give readers any hints of what's next for Morgan Dane and her crew?
I wrote Save Your Breath as the final book in the Morgan Dane series, but my next project is a spin-off. The Bree Taggert Series will take place in Grey’s Hollow. Morgan and the crew will likely make appearances.
Author Biography
#1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh is a fully recovered banker. A lifelong lover of books, she started writing as a way to preserve her sanity when her youngest child entered first grade. During the next few years, she joined Romance Writers of America, learned a few things about writing a novel, and decided the process was way more fun than analyzing financial statements. Melinda’s debut novel, She Can Run, was nominated for Best First Novel by the International Thriller Writers. She’s also garnered Golden Leaf and Silver Falchion Awards, along with two nominations for a RITA and three Daphne du Maurier Awards. She holds a second-degree black belt in Kenpo karate; teaches women’s self-defense; and lives in a messy house with her husband, two teenagers, a couple of dogs, and two rescue cats.
Social Media Links
Website: http://melindaleigh.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelindaLeigh1