Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Death by Honeymoon by Jaden Skye

Death by Honeymoon by Jaden Skye is a light mystery, full of love and longing, with scenes from the beautiful island of Barbados. She does a great job of building a love story, and then takes us to the shattered life of Cindy, a young woman now looking for answers.


On the beautiful West side of Barbados, Cindy and Clint cement their love, their honeymoon is in just the perfect spot. The West side of the island so infrequently used by tourists is the very draw, Clint is an experienced surfer, and this area is known for its waves. The beauty and the companionship are everything Cindy always wanted. Even with the difficulties from Clint’s family, their marriage still went through as planned. Here in this beautiful and enchanted place their love just continued to grow. Cindy has trusted Clint more than she has trusted anyone. She understands that no matter what, he would be there for her. As their honeymoon draws to a close, she is sad, only a few more days and they would again face the real world with its challenges from both Clint’s family and his job. But until then she would enjoy every minute. A beautiful lunch and then more surfing is set for the day, but when Cindy takes suddenly ill and becomes extremely tired, she assures Clint that she will only take a small nap, and meet him on the beach in an hour.

When Cindy finally wakes, she finds that several hours have passed, and as she goes searching for Clint, she cannot find him. Panic sets in and alarm sets her nerves on edge. She knows something is wrong Clint would never disappear. When his body is found in the surf, her life begins to fall apart.

Cindy is unable to understand how this could have happened, his parents suspect her of some nefarious deeds, which cuts her to the quick. She is unable to operate on her own, unable to leave her room or even talk to Clint’s friends. Her Sister Ann is there for her. In her grief, Cindy’s mind takes some strange turns, and she is even now convinced that Clint was murdered. With nothing to go on, she finally finds something to believe in again. Going through his files, she begins to question everything she knew about him. Returning emails to his friends and asking questions, she is nonetheless surprised when the brakes on her car fail, and her sister is almost killed. The police find the brakes tampered with but have nothing further to go on.

Not knowing where to go for help, she finally determines that the FBI would be the only safe place to start. Without evidence, they are unable and unwilling to help her. She must go back to the very place it all began, Barbados.

Cindy seems so clingy and helpless in much of the prose although she strengthens her resolve towards the end. She operates on gut instinct and bullheadedness, and stays the course following her beliefs. When vindicated and she begins to find the clues to the mystery, she puts her own and her sister’s life at risk. Yet she is determined to find the answers. She begins the story with no self confidence and is more self reliant at the end.

This is a light read full of mystery and longing. The romance is wonderful, and the story quite interesting. If you enjoy a light mystery, and romance, with a bit of sadness this is the read. The story is written well and moves along at a quick pace.

Rating 3/5
Death By Honeymoon

This book was received as a free download from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.



1 comment:

TheBookGirl said...

This intrigues me, as I was in Barbados many years ago, and still remember the wild surf on one side of the island.