Manhunt Review

Manhunt by Lillie Spencer

Book description...
Sometimes you have to forget it all to remember what really matters.
Michael Brennan's life and career come to an abrupt halt when he receives a phone call telling him the love of his life, Nikki Wright, is in the hospital after another attack by her ex-boyfriend Sebastian Cross. Rushing back to Hershey, PA, Michael turns up at Nikki's hospital bedside covered in Sebastian's blood and tells her they have to leave immediately.
Though her injuries have induced amnesia, Nikki inherently feels she can trust this man with her life. Soon, they find themselves on the run from both their own troubled pasts and authorities hunting for Sebastian's killer. With each new day and each touch drawing her further into Michael's embrace, Nikki remembers more about this fugitive she once loved, and who still loves her enough to risk everything to protect her and keep her safe. But can she love a man who just might be a murderer?

I am a huge fan of romantic suspense novels... okay so I'm a huge fan of any kind of romance novels... anyway, whenever I pick up a suspense novel I tend to get a little nervous.  I get a little nervous because it's always hard to tell exactly what you're going to get... are you going to get Romance with a little suspense?  Are you going to get suspense with a little bit of Romance?  Are you going to get an even combination of the two?  You just never know and unfortunately you may be in the mood for a strong romance with a little suspense or a suspense with a little romance along the way.  So when Lillie asked me to read and review her book, while I was extremely excited that she wanted MY opinion, I was also a little scared.... and I say that because I've been in this strange reading funk lately where I think I want one thing and then when I read it I find myself bored thinking... "That is so not what you were looking for Lori!"  But, I have to say that.... even though I had to put E. Luke down and take a step back from Manhunt so I could process what I was reading... I was NOT disappointed in this book what so ever!

Michael is an absolutely beautiful man... inside and out.... who has got one of the biggest hearts I have seen in a male character in a long time.  Granted most of the men I tend to swoon over are either bad boys or alpha men who have their sweet moments... Michael just blew me out of the water.  He could be classified as a bad boy.. no doubt, or he could also be classified as an alpha male... with the way he steps in and takes complete control of the situation.... but at the same time his love and loyalty casts him in more of one of those men that you just want to lean on, no matter what your mood may be...  He's been in love with Nikki since they were kids and feels it's his duty to protect her... no matter the consequences... so when she ends up in the ER after having been brutally beaten by her ex-boyfriend... who also happens to be Michael's enemy... he takes matters into his own hands.  While, I did not fully agree with half of his decisions, by the end of the book I realized he had a reason for every step he took... and I found myself changing my opinion on whether or not I agreed with specific decisions he made.


I struggled with my feelings towards Nikki and she was the main reason on why I needed to step back and process my thoughts... because quite frankly I couldn't understand her thought process half the time.  But once I took the time to actually think about what she had been through, about what her mind was telling her, about what her heart was telling her, and most importantly what her instincts were telling her.... I was finally able to feel the compassion she so desperately deserved.  Here she's been brutally beaten by her ex-boyfriend, who she had a restraining order against, she's suffering from amnesia, and in rushes this gorgeous man who is insisting she come with him on the run.  Like I said, she desperately deserved compassion because of what she had been through and when I finally told myself "Lori, quit being so snarky and think about what the girl must be feeling" I realized, this book is kind of giving you a lesson on how important it is to follow your instincts.  Granted her head was telling her to run and her heart was telling her there was something about this man that called to it... it was her instincts telling her to finally put some trust in a man who has shown her nothing but kindness.


So on the run, small flashbacks start to encourage Nikki to follow her heart... even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to her... and when she finally does, it's clear how much these two are meant to be together.  It's obvious from the beginning how much Michael truly cares and loves Nikki... but it was Nikki's lack of memories that kept me guessing at what could have possibly happened in the past to make these two push each other away... and once I found out the reason... I found myself even more in love with Michael!


Like I said before... this book kept me guessing... I bet I had at least 3 different theories going on in my head before the truth finally came out and to say I was stunned... is a but of an understatement.  I was most definitely kept on my toes to the point that when I would actually set it down I would still be thinking about the new information I just found out and what could possibly happen or come out next so that these two love birds would be able to enjoy the happily ever after they deserved to share together.  It's not often that a book will keep me thinking the way this one did... and when I say that I don't mean thinking about the book after I've finished it because I fell so hard over the characters... I mean in the sense that I actually had to sit down and think about what was going on... I had to think back to small things that may have happened at the beginning of the book... you know kind of like one of those movies that you have to pay such close attention to or you find yourself completely lost at the end... thinking... "Ummm, What?" but it wasn't quite like that either.. and now I'm probably not making any sense... "Typical, Lori!" Anyway, it's nice to come across a book that will keep my creative thinking skills sharp... 

Manhunt by Lillie Spencer is definitely a book to check out if you love a good romantic suspense!  I see good things for Lillie and her future books... she is creative and does a wonderful job of using her writing style to make everything seem extremely realistic.  I look forward to reading more of Lillie's work in the future!


Happy Reading!