Customer Reviews

Missing

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I liked the basic storyline about Raven Family. I have to agree with other reviewers this was a rushed job. The story created more questions than answers. Hopefully the next two trilogy are better.

Jasmine Cresswell's MISSING is the first book in a trilogy that turns the idea of romance into a suspenseful anti-romance where bigamy transforms a previously thought happy marriage into a spiraling nightmare. Attention to characterization and an intriguing fast-paced plot makes Missing a fun and quick eye-opening read.

Ron Raven was a wonderful husband and father....to two families! When he turns up missing, his secret is exposed. Ron's daughter Megan must do something when the other family's relative shows up in the person of Adam Fairfax, demanding repayment of a three million dollar bank loan which threatens her mother's beloved Wyoming ranch. To make matters more complicated, Adam is the brother to Ron's other Wyoming wife. Adam and Megan realize working together is in their mutual best interest so they head out searching for clues to the missing millions and Ron's past.

MISSING creates a suspenseful romance nightmare in which the mixing of business and pleasure and the consequences were disastrous! Love turns into bigamy and an unfolding, spiraling nightmare that just gets worse for all those left behind. Jasmine Cresswell juxtaposes the character of Ron, a sort of romance anti-hero in an anti-romance to the developing romance between Adam and Megan in which two opposing forces come together and build trust as they uncover the clues and experience the ramifications of Ron's deception. The clues lead Adam and Megan not to multiple locations, creating a race that extends beyond Georgia and Wyoming to Mexico. The more clues they uncover, the more entangled and deep the greed and secrecy becomes. Jasmine Cresswell creates a dramatic moment by using bigamy as the crux of the suspense while her characterization, shown in the more intimate moments between mother and daughter and other characters allow the reader to experience the emotional fallout of Ron's duplicitous life. United by financial needs and the shock of Ron`s secrets, Adam and Megan find themselves revealing their own vulnerabilities to one another. Jasmine Cresswell's MISSING combines tense suspense and riveting romantic drama in this first book of the Raven and Fairfax family trilogy.

The basic plot idea seemed good at first, but it all appeared to be the same ole same ole. I thought that everything just seemed rushed together and not really thought out.

For twenty five years, Ron Raven lived two lives with two families in two different states. When he is murdered, the two lives crash together as money one family owes the other comes due and all his lies and con games come to light. Determined to find out the truth and save her family, Megan Raven finds herself forced to work with Adam Fairfax, her father's brother-in-law from his other family, the man to whom her mother suddenly and unexpectedly owes three million dollars. Despite the adversarial position the two find themselves in, as they try to sort through the complicated mess left behind by Ron, there is an attraction between them as well as anger. Though far from an ideal time to find love, it might be that at least one good thing comes out of Ron Raven's deceptions.

*** Though there are still many questions left at the end, and I suspect that perhaps after reading the next two books in the trilogy, my rating of this novel might go up, it is an intriguing start to the series. The romantic angle was rather uneven, but the mystery factor was spot on and made the pages fly by. ***

Megan Raven`s father has just disappeared under suspicious
circumstances in Miami, leaving her mother's home in dire trouble as
it was used for collateral for a loan no one knew anything about. A
three million dollar loan. Taking control of the situation, Megan goes
to the bank that the loan was taken out at. Trouble is the bank
president is her father's brother-in-law, his other wife's brother.

Adam Fairfax's bank loaned his brother-in-law three million dollars.
Now that brother-in-law is presumed dead, the money is missing, and
his sister just found out she was not her husband's only wife. And he
is falling for the daughter of the missing man.

From the first paragraph, Ms. Cresswell seizes the reader's mind and
does not let go. Missing is a compelling tale of family, finances and
life with several interesting twists thrown in to keep the reader
thinking. It does stretch itself a bit too much in a couple of places
but still manages to be strong in character development.

Barb
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Albeit the main story gets lost many times in the book, the book's plot still'll keep you interested. It's not a new kind of plot or love story at all but you'll want to know what'll happen at the next page. Here I've to say that the travel to Toluca airport was utterly accurate, so accurate that I have some inkling that JC made that trip herself.

Of course I agree that this is not the best book written by JC but I'm readily to read the next two books of this trilogy.

Multimillionaire Ron Raven vanishes without a trace leaving his loved ones worried about foul play. However, his incredible deception surfaces as he has two wives and children with both. Apparently for twenty-five years the businessman using the pretext of job related travel to raise two families; one in Wyoming the other in Georgia.

Before Ron went MISSING, he borrowed three million dollars from the Fairfax Bank in Georgia using his Wyoming Flying W Ranch as collateral and a plan to use the money to convert the property into a vacation center. With her mother already mentally shattered by his duplicity, her daughter Megan Raven fears losing the family ranch will destroy her. She travels to Georgia to meet with bank manager Adam Fairfax, the younger brother of Ron's other wife Avery, to discuss the situation. Adam feels like a dupe for lending the money to his brother-in-law and will do what it takes to collect it even if it means foreclosing the other wife's ranch. However, Megan persuades him to join her and follow Ron's money trail that leads the pair to earn plenty of frequent flyer hours as they head to Mexico and Belize where the avaricious web of deception is even more complex than the DNA helix.

This exciting opening act (SUSPECT and PAYBACK are coming in October and November) will grip the audience from the moment we are introduced to Ron Raven's two stunned families. The shocked Ravens and Fairfaxs make the tale as each member struggles with accepting the unimaginable truth that Ron is a bigamist turned embezzler. Fans will enjoy this fast-paced thriller as things are not quite like they seem with family twists that lead the duo back and forth between Georgia and Wyoming with stops in Mexico and Belize.

Harriet Klausner