Next of Kin by Sharon Sala

Next of Kin
Beth Venable has seen too much. Witness to a major mob hit, she's placed in protective custody until the trial. But after her third safe house is riddled with bullets, she goes off-grid to save herself. What the FBI can't do, her kinfolk will.The beautiful but forbidding Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky welcome Beth back, dirt roads and rustic shacks a world apart from L.A. But her homecoming—even her blissful reunion with strong, silent Ryal Walker—is made bittersweet by the fight she's brought to the clan's doorstep. Hidden in a remote cabin with the man she's always wanted, Beth begins to dream of a new life: her old one. But after so long, with such dangers stalking her…impossible.But love can distill life down to its essence: an elixir of pure hope, nerve—and the will to survive.

While Next of Kin was not one of the most exceptional books by Sharon Sala, I did really enjoy it from start to finish. I enjoyed both the primary and secondary characters, and I'm looking forward to more books in the Rebel Ridge series. Personally, what I found a little lacking in the story was depth; I felt like things were resolved a little too quickly, and emotions were not as powerful as they typically are when written by Sharon Sala. I loved Sharon's use of suspense and tension in this book, so while I would have liked to see a little more edge-of-your-seat danger, I was captivated by the romance, the characters and the strong family values depicted by their need to protect one of their own.