Review: TOOL BELT DEFENDER (Lawmen of Black Rock, #5) by Carla Cassidy

Harlequin Romantic Suspense #1687

Book Blurb:

"It's party time."

That's the "invitation" shoved under her door. It's got Brittany Grayson fearing for her life…and her sanity. She's sure the monster who once held her captive for months is dead, so why his chilling words in the note? His menacing face in the window? And why won't anyone —even her lawmen brothers—believe that somehow he's after her again?

Brittany just wants a normal, independent life in Black Rock. Romance is out of the question…although she's okay as friends-with-benefits with Alex Crawford, her hunky, marriage-phobic contractor. Alex, a single dad, has his own good reasons not to fall for Brittany. But none of them matter when the race is on to find the killer who's kidnapped her!

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TOOL BELT DEFENDER is the fifth book in the Lawmen of Black Rock series.  The first four books featured one of the Grayson brothers of Black Rock, Kansas: Tom, Caleb, Benjamin and Jacob.  This latest book is about their younger sister Brittany and the new boy in town she falls in love with.

Brittany's back story from book four is that she was held captive by a serial killer for four months, but luckily she was saved by her brothers.  Now she's living in her own home again, trying to recover from the horrific ordeal.  Alex Crawford is the man she hires to build her dream deck on her house.  He's a widower trying to make a fresh start in a new town for himself and his young daughter.  The conflict of the story comes in when another nutcase sets his sights on kidnapping and killing Brittany.  That girl can't get a break!

This book was a so-so read for me.  I think my main issue was the lack of suspense.  It wasn't difficult to figure out the new kidnapper; I had him pegged when he was first introduced.  There also wasn't much build up to the tense moments in the plot.

I liked the main characters pretty well.  Brittany was obviously a very strong person to survive being kidnapped and held in a small cell for four months.  And, my heart went out to Alex, having to raise his little girl on his own.  While there certainly was chemistry between Alex and Brittany, a lot of the story was spent with them finding reasons they shouldn't be together.  Frustrating!

This was actually the first book from the Lawmen series I've read, and it works fine as a stand-alone story.  I suppose it does contain spoilers for book four, so you might want to keep that in mind before you read out of order.

Find details about the entire Lawmen of Black Rock series on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/series/69721-lawmen-of-black-rock