The Cost of Betrayal by Dee Henderson, Dani Pettrey, and Lynette Eason
Sarah Grace's Rating: 4 out of 5 bookmarks

Editor's Note: This book is an omnibus of three romantic suspense novellas each by a different author. This is the second such volume from these writers, the first being Sins of the Past.


This is another wild ride from Henderson, Pettrey, and Eason! I really enjoyed this collection, although maybe not quite as much as the previous one. It's a close call.

Betrayed by Dee Henderson

To be honest, this novella wasn't quite what I was expecting from a romantic suspense collection. It was a little light on suspense with little to no action and was definitely light on romance. I didn't mind that, though. I always find Henderson's angst- and drama-free romances so refreshing. The premise of Betrayed was very interesting and I would have loved for it to be a full-length novel. I do wish there had been more conclusion to the story, as the ending felt very sudden and didn't seem to wrap things up much. (Dare I think that was purposeful, as in there will be more to the story eventually?) The characters were very interesting and left me wanting to know more of their story. I also loved the reappearance of Paul and Ann Falcon from Henderson's previous series, Evie Blackwell Cold Case. Overall, a very interesting novella, even if it wasn't what I expected.

Deadly Isle by Dani Pettrey

Okay, I'll be honest. From the few books I've read, I'm not really a Pettrey fan, but I'm usually willing to give one of her books a go. This one was definitely better than her novella in Sins of the Past, but it still had its issues for me. The characters and their story was very interesting, and for the most part, there wasn't the angsty romance that I've found par for the course with Pettrey, so a definite thumbs-up there. The story kept me on my toes, and the mystery was very well done. The villain was definitely unexpected.

There was one major issue with this novella that rubbed me the wrong way quite a bit. I won’t go into detail because of spoilers, but a certain character gets shot in the shoulder, and the way the injury was handled was not very realistic at all. Having heavily researched as well as spoken with a doctor about bullet wounds in the shoulder for my own story research, the scenario portrayed in Deadly Isle is highly implausible. It would have only taken just a bit of research for Pettrey and/or her editors to realize that that kind of situation isn't really reasonable.

All in all, aside from a few issues, I did enjoy this action-packed novella.

Code of Ethics by Lynette Eason

As a big fan of Eason’s Blue Justice series, I greatly enjoyed this tie-in novella about another of the St. John siblings. Ruthie and Isaac were interesting and realistic characters, and the storyline was fast-paced and unique, filled with Eason’s trademark action and suspense. At times, I felt that Isaac’s recovery from his gunshot wound was slightly unrealistic, but it still worked. There were lots of twists and turns, and the ending was completely unexpected. Overall, I very much enjoyed this novella, and look forward to reading more Lynette Eason.


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