Review- Untraceable + Giveaway of a Signed Copy

Title: Untraceable (Nature of Grace #1)

Author: S.R. Johannes.

Summary:

Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival. When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he's dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father. 

Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she's enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it's going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

 

Review:

So… I rarely will read a book that doesn’t have SOME paranormal or fantasy component… but Im SO glad I gave this a try. I was completely surprised at how I liked this book.

The story follows Grace, a 16 year old girl who has been raised basically in the Smoky Mountains due to her father being a Game Warden. She knows all the ins and outs of the forest and how to survive- if needed. Then… her father goes missing.

The book starts 3 months after her father went missing and everyone is ready to close the case due to lack of leads or evidence. They have decided that he must have fallen in a lake and drowned. Now all Grace does it hike through the woods looking for clues somewhere.

After finding some men who are doing some illegal poaching, she ends up in some serious danger, only to be saved by the mysterious Mo.

Then the story twists SEVERAL times, and who you think is the bad guy, isn’t, and who you think is awesome… isn’t. I was very surprised.

The Characters were good. Grace was young, but smart and feisty. She was strong willed and determined. And would never give up on her father. She knew that he couldn’t get lost, and if he was hurt, he would do SOMETHING to signal for help. She knew there had to be foul play and was relentless in her search for him. I loved Grace’s determination and unyielding nature. Everything about her yells GOOD PERSON.

Then you have Mo- who is a mystery in his own right. And you find out a LOT about him as the book goes on, so I cant say too much without giving something away. But I like him a lot J

And last is Wyn- Grace’s best friend and ex boyfriend. This is what makes up the ugly love triangle. Im not a fan of love triangles, but oh well. Anyways, Wyn was funny, and his and Grace’s back and forth banter literally made me laugh out loud! He provided some much needed humor to a rather sad tale.

Romance- as I already mentioned, there is a love triangle… which was probably the only thing I didn’t like in the book. But the romance between Grace and Mo felt perfect. It was a very sweet teenage fling- that being said, I was SUPER glad there was no insta-love. In fact, they never professed their undying love for each other, just that they were falling hard for each other. Which I appreciated.

Other things to mention- I LOVED the survival tips at the beginning of each Chapter!!

And... though I care about animals, I am not animal crazy, and a large portion of this book is related to illegal poaching/hunting and animal cruelty. Though I respect animals and understand how someone who has lived near a forest her whole life can love animals a LOT, I could not relate well to this. I had a dog growing up for a short time... but thats about it. So I have never LOVED an animal really. I know several women who consider their pets part of the family and they could probably relate to this more than I. However- It did give me added knowledge about animal cruelty that I did not have before, so I appreciate that.

Overall- Though it took me a while to get into it- only because I usually read a different genre, Im glad I  gave this book a chance. I was thoroughly surprised by how much I loved this. Its mystery, action and love all rolled into one.

Rating: 4 Stars

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