Bridged
2 Stars

Detective Mason Callahan and FBI Agent Eva McLane team up again to investigate a series of murders in which the victims are tortured and hung from bridges across Washington state.

Something is missing from this spin-off. Perhaps it is the fact that Mason and Ava's relationship developed so quickly in the first book that there is no longer any real tension or chemistry…
Perhaps it is their angsty and repetitive internal musings….
Maybe it's Ava's annoying obsession with her twin …
Or Elliot's tendency toward making her villains too sympathetic. Regardless, the series simply isn't grabbing me in the same way as Bone Secrets did.

In terms of the plot, the romance is overshadowed by the mystery, which isn't very well written. The motive is obvious early on and it takes the police far too long to figure it out. The climax is contrived and convenient, and the resolution is unnecessarily drawn out.

In addition, the writing is plagued with grammatical errors, especially the consistent misuse of the Past Perfect tense. As an ESL teacher, it could be that I'm overly sensitive to this, but it detracts from the overall reading experience. The book is in dire need of an editor!

In sum, this is the weakest of Elliot's books, and to be honest, I need to take a break before I lose interest completely. ( )

This is essentially a direct continuation of the first book in the series, though I did notice that it stands well on its own as well. It does have the same flaws as the first book, but the same strengths too. This time around, rather than pursuing a kidnapper, the two are in pursuit of a suspected serial killer. As the story unfolds, things gradually come together and begin to truly make sense, leading to a gripping conclusion. It also helps that the two main characters are simply highly likable. I'll definitely be reading the next two books right away. ( )

As a lover of romantic suspense I always find it’s a sign of good writing when I find myself feeling sympathy for the killer. Now that doesn’t always happen as some are just too sick and twisted to relate to but the killer in Bridged is one I found myself understanding his reasoning’s behind what he was doing.

This second book in the series picks up a few months after the firsts one. Mason and Ava are now practically living together and making their relationship work even with the stresses of their two jobs. His as a detective with the Oregon State Police and she is a FBI agent. The work collides with the death of a man found hanging naked on a bridge.

I liked how the author writes about the equal balance of home and work between these two. Mason and Ava have always been dedicated to their jobs but balancing a relationship between that is new to both of them and I thought they did a great job of it. No ego’s got in the way between them as it was clear they respected the other and the work each does.

This was a good mystery as to why the killer was doing what he was doing and the reveal slow as to what the main motive was. As the book went along your thoughts on the victims certainly changed.

I always enjoy the stories Kendra has to tell and this was no exception. I’m looking forward to what’s next in this series from Mason and Ava..
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Bridged (Mason Callahan #2)by Kendra Elliot, picks up shortly after book 1 Vanished (Mason Callahan #1) ends. Mason Callahan and Ava McLane are partnered up again in the search for a killer who hangs his victims from bridges in the area.

For me, this was a ok read, I found the characters to be bland and dimensionless, the overall plot good, but executed in a slow and drawn out fashion, and the romance passionless.

Ava’s sister Jane returns in this book, furthering the juxtaposition between the two sisters. Ava sees Jane as the sister from hell, and a "mental" reminder that she could become just like her if she’s not careful. The dynamics between the two sisters is superficial, and could have been exploited far more in my opinion, adding additional dimension to the books plot, and Ava’s character.

The action in the book picks up in the last 1/3 of the book and moves quickly to the dramatic conclusion, wrapping up any loose ends in the books plot.

I received the book from NetGalley on behalf of Montlake Romance for an honest review. Expected publication date is Feb 10th, 2015.

For me this was a 2.75 star read which I’ll round up to 3 stars
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Bridged by Kendra Elliot is a 2015 Montlake publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Callahan and McLane series.

I was thrilled that Ava and Mason's relationship is deepening because they really do compliment each other. But, they are still dedicated to their jobs and so when men are being murdered and tossed off the Portland Bridge stark naked, Ava has her hands full trying to determine who “The Bridge Killer” is. But, that's not all she has going on in her life.

In the first book in this series, I was a little puzzled by the storyline that involved Ava's sister, Jayne. Now, I understand that the author was laying the groundwork for a bigger story line and we will most likely deal with Jayne's character again in the future. In this second book, Jayne has really outdone herself by stealing from her own sister and it appears she has a very dangerous new boyfriend, prompting Ava to try to locate her, despite the fact she has given up on Jayne ever getting better or changing and can't afford to have her bogging down her own life.

I liked this second book in the series better than the first one, actually. The characters are familiar to me now and I understand them a little better. I was given a little more insight into Ava and Jayne's childhood and it's so thought provoking. Ava is such a stand up person, but suffered as much abuse and neglect, if not more, as Jayne did, but Jayne turned into a wild child. Interesting psychology there and maybe the series will delve into that in more detail later on.

I thought the plot was imaginative and it was interesting to have men as the victims and not women or children, which is so often the case in romantic suspense novels. I thought this made the motives more complex because with three murders in rapid succession, it becomes clear a serial killer is out there, but the victims are so diverse it's hard to find a commonality between them. There were a few heart stopping moments and the suspense builds to an action packed climax that had me glued to the pages.

Overall, this is a solid thriller, the type I really like reading most of all. I'm still warming up to this series, but I think it might become a fast favorite. 4 stars ( )