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REVIEW: When It Rains, by Elle Keaton

Title: When It Rains
Series: The Accidental Roots, Book 8
Author: Elle Keaton
Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: MM/Gay
Publisher: Self
Pages/Word Count: 255 Pages
Reviewer: Maryann

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About the Book

Beto Hernandez’s objective: Break the human trafficking ring plaguing Skagit once and for all. He’s not in Skagit to make friends—he’s kicking ass first and taking names later. Maybe. He crosses paths with an intriguing and sexy man, the first in years to spark Beto’s interest. It’s ultimate bad timing, though; no one in Skagit can be trusted.

Who is Carsten Quinn, and where does he fit in Beto’s investigation? Beto tries to stay away from Carsten but their undeniable chemistry keeps him close.
Carsten Quinn survived years in hell to return to “normal life,” and he has his own mission in Skagit. The only problem is he’s hiding, not living anything like a normal life. When his closest friend is severely injured it’s up to Carsten to finish gathering evidence to put some very bad people behind bars and he knows all too well he can’t trust anyone, especially not the law.

Ironically, the law appears anyway, in the form of a sexy cop he can’t stop thinking about; when Carsten’s past comes back with a vengeance, he has no one else to turn to.

Is happiness too much to hope for? Are Beto and Carsten too different and too broken to trust anyone, much less each other?

The Review

The small town of Skagit has its problems but it also seems to have a magnetic pull that bring opposites together.  

FBI Agent Beto Hernandez has never been able to have the life that he’s dreamed of.  He gave up his freedom to keep his relationship behind closed doors.  Now he finds himself in the small town of Skagit with one goal.

Carsten Quinn a young survivor of an abusive life has finally found his freedom but he’s not totally free.  He finds himself helping Troy Bakker who has some information that would rock the town of Skagit.  When Troy is seriously hurt and   in the hospital Carsten realizes he has to finish what was started.

Both Beto and Carsten are broken and think they will never find the missing piece to happiness.  There’s also an issue of who can be trusted.  But they find themselves risking their lives for one goal and that’s to find the evil people who are behind the human trafficking ring and bring it to a halt.

“When It Rains” is exciting, loaded with suspense, danger and lot’s of fast paced action.  There’s high drama, very emotional moments and some humor too.  As far as the mystery, Elle Keaton has the pieces falling like dominoes and I don’t want to give anything away.  One thing that was really outstanding was the description of the constant rains that plagued Skagit. 

My only regret is that we couldn’t spend more time with all the characters mentioned from previous novels.  Beto and Carsten turned out to be a surprise and reminded me of Klay and Micah.  Of course, grumpy Klay always makes an appearance but I was hoping for Micah to get equal time.  It was hard to decide who was more grumpy Klay or Beto.  It was interesting to get a sneak peak at the growing relationship between Soren and Dany.  Hopefully somewhere along the line we might get their full story.

“When It Rains” is the final book in “The Accidental Roots” series by Elle Keaton.

I have to say, she didn’t disappoint.  From the first book published in 2017, I was hooked and always jumped at the chance to review all the books in-between.  If you haven’t had a chance, grab a copy of “Storm Season” and get started visiting  the town of Skagit and all the great characters that come to live and love in this  small town. You’re bound to find characters you like throughout this series.  Great final story with a great ending!

About the Reviewer

Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California.  Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018.  My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen.  New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights.  Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! 

From a young age Ialways liked to read.  I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors. My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012.  She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. 

Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book! As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me.  But if a blurb peaks my interest I will read the book. My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. 

I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading. I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews.  One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group.  Joining her site was such an eye opener.  I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre.  

Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.  But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.

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