Forbidden Ground - Review

Forbidden Ground by Karen Harper

Rating: 3 Stars
Source: NetGalley

Description:  
The three Lockwood sisters have reunited in Cold Creek, Ohio for the youngest sister Tess's wedding.  Oldest sister, Kate, an anthropologist, is hoping to get a look at a burial mound belonging to the prehistoric Adena  civilization that just happens to be on the best man's land.  Grant Mason, the best man, is less enthusiastic about Kate's idea.  Is it really because of his grandfather's belief that the dead just be left alone or is he hiding something?  After overhearing a few tense conversations and the murder of one of Grant's oldest friends Kate just can't be sure.  As they become drawn into the murder investigation and fight their mutual attraction Kate still has to question if she can trust him.

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Why I Picked This Book:  I've been in a romantic suspense mood lately and the addition of prehistoric history intrigued me.

My Impression:
Pros: While Kate and Grant didn't fully click for me I liked how their relationship progressed.  While they were attracted to each other it wasn't an insta-soul mate kind of thing,  When they go through a traumatic event together it brings them closer which made sense.  The small town setting was interesting and had enough characters to make it seem real but not so many it was difficult to keep track of.  I liked how Kate responded to her estranged father coming to Tess's wedding.  She wasn't overjoyed but she wasn't unwilling to reasonable about it.  I thought it seemed realistic that she had the hardest time dealing with his presence because she was the oldest and remembered most of what their early childhood had been like (neglected, not abusive).  I liked that they talked about why Grant's lumber mill was successful and why his brother's paper mill failed.

Cons: Unfortunately, a lot of this book didn't really work for.  While Kate and Grant are interesting characters their relationship didn't really connect for me.  Kate's obsession with Adena burials didn't interest me after awhile and it seemed to be her primary personality trait.  I'd also like to do a little more research of the timber thieves thing.  I fully believe that trees are as valuable as talked about but I still found the thieving part of the plot hard to really believe - especially close to a house.  I've had trees cut down and it's seriously loud and at the fastest takes a couple of hours.  I also found Grant's full blow grief over the tree a little hard to buy.

Overall: While I really wanted to love this book it just didn't quite work for me.  Part of it may have been the mood I was in because I will fully admit to being somewhat distracted during the time I was reading this.  While it wasn't a bad book it wasn't what I'd call a page turner either.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Possibly.  I like what I saw of Tess and Gabe and wouldn't mind reading their story and I'm curious to know more about Char so I might try their books.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  I wouldn't NOT recommend it but it's definitely not one I'd say you'd have to read.