Caffeinated Reviewer

Sophia is here with the third novel in the romantic suspense, New Orleans. Come check out her thoughts on Buried to Deep by Karen Rose, part of the Romantic Suspense series. If you like thrillers and romantic suspense, you need to check this out.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose comes another explosive novel in the New Orleans series, where some secrets are worth dying for—or killing to keep.

Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.

Employed as the nighttime security guard of Broussard Private Investigations, Phineas Bishop has been working through overwhelming PTSD episodes from his Army service while still utilizing his military skills. But when a violent break-in occurs at the office, the accusatory eyes of the NOPD glance to Phin, and he resolves to track down the intruder and clear his name.

Phin’s only lead and witness is Cora Winslow, a spirited librarian who also needs answers. Her father’s body has been discovered under a recently demolished building, murdered twenty-three years ago. So, who has been sending her the handwritten letters—written and signed by him—every year since she was five? Someone wants to keep Cora in the dark. And now, they’re coming for her.

As Cora’s bodyguard, Phin is surprised by his fondness for the woman’s fierce determination and research prowess. But New Orleans’s Garden District holds secrets as old as the streets themselves. With help from the entire Broussard P.I. team, Phin and Cora enter a labyrinth of fraud and homicide that threatens to bury them all.

Sophia Rose’s Review

Life was complicated enough suffering from PTSD, but getting pinned by the police for a break-in sets a man on a path of investigation straight into the dark shadows of an even older crime.  Karen Rose’s New Orlean’s series has been captivating from the beginning and I love the focus around the Broussard Investigations and security firm.  The series only seems to get stronger as I go.

Buried Too Deep is the third of the New Orleans sub-series and thirtieth in the Romantic Suspense series overall.  While one could get away with reading it out of order, I did enjoy having the background and world of Broussard’s people and the overall situation with New Orlean’s backdrop from the previous books.

Phin Bishop is struggling, but he’s working through his PTSD and the Broussard Security family is behind him a hundred percent.  When there is a break in and he gets tagged for it by the NOPD, they support him and he is determined to clear his name.  His investigation leads him to Cora, a librarian.

Cora’s dad disappeared twenty years before, but bones being identified as him has just turned up.  One might think this is a good thing and would bring closure, but no… cue the creepy music.  See, Cora’s been getting an annual letter from her dad even while those bones definitively ID’d as him have been moldering in the ground.  So, whose been sending her the letters?  And, why is she suddenly in danger after the bones are found?  Cora wants answers and with Phin on her bodyguard team with his new K-9 companion, Soda Pop (love the name)- they will dive in and discovered a dark cover up.

I was very taken with Phin’s character and his connection to his work friends, his companion dog, and his growing romance with Cora.  As usual, Karen Rose did her research and portrayed PTSD as an ongoing, realistic struggle.  I loved Cora and Phin together and how much she was all in and supportive.  They were both smart about their investigating and I appreciated the balance of their building relationship and the tension of the suspense side of the plot.

The story had Phin and Cora both getting large swaths of the narration, but also the villain’s perspective which doesn’t give away as much as you’d think.

All in all, an abso-fab entry in a fantastic series.  Romantic suspense and thriller romance fans who like good police procedural and some grit with a good balance of the romance and action should definitely give these a go.

Amazon | Audible

About Karen Rose

Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn't concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.” Her debut suspense novel, DON'T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published fifteen more novels and two novellas. Her seventeenth novel, ALONE IN THE DARK, will be released in 2016. Karen's books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London's Sunday Times, and Germany's der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa (#1) and Australia! Her novels, I'M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America's RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into twenty-four languages. A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years, her two daughters, two dogs, and a cat.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

About Sophia Rose

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

Twitter | Goodreads

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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