M. Ullrich

Kris Bryant

Maggie Cummings

Police officer Peyton Clarke and real estate agent Tory Stevens are complete strangers who experience an instant attraction during a moment of shared misery: trying on bridesmaids’ dresses. But their flirtation comes to an abrupt end when Bradley Richter enters Angelina's Bridal Boutique determined to end every life in the store. He's deranged, heartbroken, and sure of his sharpshooting skills, but he has miscalculated. Two survive. Peyton is determined to capture the guy who killed eleven people, but for Tory the tragedy is a wake up call to open herself up to more than professional success. She and Peyton learn that love can be found in the most hopeless of places. They escaped death once, but will they survive when Bradley's determined to make his kill rate one-hundred percent?

Against All Odds

Izza

2.5 stars | I had high hopes for this one 😔

Jude Silberfeld

I didn’t read this book when it came out, even though I wanted to, as I like all three authors and was curious about them writing together. The audiobook coming out recently gave me a second chance (thank you Maggie Cummings for the code). Because I trust all three authors and remembered my trusted reviewers had reviewed this story favourably, I didn’t read the blurb. I would still have listened (and probably enjoyed just as much) if I had read it, but I would also have known what to expect.

The funny thing with triggers is that they don’t always take the same form. And they don’t always trigger. Or not with the same consequences. Triggers are insidious and polymorphic.

One of my triggers – sometimes, not always – is mass shootings, whether linked to terrorism or disgruntled masculinist jerks.

Take Bradley Richter for example. His ex-fiancée is about to get married to another guy, and he’s made it his mission to save her from what he sees as a huge mistake, which he blames on the people around her. A dress fitting at Angelina’s Bridal Boutique is the perfect opportunity to make his point. With his gun. Peyton Clarke and Tory Stevens, two other clients of the shop, met just before Bradley walked and began shooting. In those precious minutes before all hell broke loose, the chemistry between them was palpable and they had just enough time to exchange phone numbers. As fate would have it, the two women are the only survivors of Bradley’s carnage. When Tory visits Peyton in the hospital, the connection they felt earlier is still obvious. But while Peyton, a police officer, is obsessed with catching the killer, Tory doesn’t want to give him any more of her time.

It’s taken me long enough to get to this fundamental part of the review: I loved this book. I am impressed at how well each author’s writing meshes with the others’. They each have their own voice and yet they work wonderfully together. It felt like I was getting the best of each (even though that’s not really fair to M. Ullrich), hearing each of their voices distinctly while completely forgetting there was more than one writer. They work seamlessly together. Each author wrote a character – Tory, Peyton, Bradley – and the story is told from each character’s point of view, as M. Ullrich explained in this video (each author reads from the first chapter of the character they wrote, if you’re want to know who wrote who).

The reason I mentioned triggers earlier is that what Tory and Peyton went through and the ensuing PTSD made them all the more relatable to me. I won’t compare our experiences but I know that strange feeling that something wonderful came out of an event that killed and maimed so many and traumatized even more. Not that they wouldn’t have been relatable otherwise. They’re lovely in a normal, not-Hollywood way. They have normal people flaws and qualities. Tory, for example, can be quite judgemental, especially when it comes to bridesmaids dresses. Both Peyton and Tory are endearing and they feel very approachable and caring. I loved them both, I felt their fears but also their joy and wonder at finding love in the strangest circumstances. I also liked that the authors kept the PTSD to a minimum. It’s there, everywhere, always, but it’s not the story being told and it doesn’t overshadow the romance.

My only issue is that I wish the authors hadn’t written Bradley as deranged. It wasn’t necessary (not all mass shooters are crazy) and it plays unnecessarily into mental health stereotypes. I’m also not a fan of being in the bad guy’s head but with three authors writing, it makes sense. Apart from that, I loved everything, except Bradley, of course, whom I hated. I also like Melissa Sternenberg’s narration a lot. She doesn’t have the most distinctive voices for the different characters, but honestly, I’d rather have a well-read story than bad acting and Melissa Sternenberg’s reading is perfect: the intonations, the rhythm, the breathing, the small touches of vulnerability… It serves the book impeccably.

Kris Bryant, Maggie Cummings, and M. Ullrich

Megan Cooper

I was really interested to see what it would be like to read a book written by three established authors - is it easy to identify who wrote what, will their styles meld? I've read and enjoyed Ullrich and Bryant's books, but Cummings is not an author I was familiar with - how would she stack up against two authors I really like?

I started reading the book trying to dissect the writing and ended up forgetting all about the fact that three people were involved in writing it because the story just grabbed me by the ears and dragged me along for the ride. 

This is a romantic suspense novel that works extremely well. The start is a bit horrific - a mass shooting at a bridal shop where the two leads are both trying on bridesmaid dresses - but the authors manage to present it in such a way that the gore factor is not over the top but it still hits you hard. They even switch things around where Peyton, an off-duty cop, is the one who needs saving by Tory, the realtor.

The romance is handled quite well - prior to the shooting, the two women meet and flirt a bit, to the point of exchanging numbers so its established that there is a spark and interest from the beginning and the relationship would have likely developed if the day had not gone so terribly wrong. The chemistry between the two works particularly well - fueled by the fact that they both experienced the same life altering event and have been lucky enough to survive and make the most of their lives.

Both women are strong - they each deal with what happened in their own way, but they do deal with it and help one another. The set up could have easily fallen into an angst driven melodrama, but the characters and the storyline didn't go for the easy route and focused on the healing rather than how broken the events could have left them.

The suspense factor worked so much better than I expected. The book is told in three POV's: Peyton's, Tory's and Bradley (the shooter). I normally hate when the killer gets a POV as it is usually cheesy and over the top, but whoever manged Bradley's POV did a fantastic job - inserting a certain level of menace and suspense and also giving a nice twist as he begins to obsess over the two women who managed to escape the shooting.

Overall - a really great romantic suspense that manages both parts of the equation perfectly. This is a book you won't be able to put down.

Definitely recommended.

Against All Odds

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