Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
I am continuously astounded at Devney Perry’s capacity to write romances that slay your soul. I keep waiting to be disappointed, and it never happens. With a new series, you hope you’ll love it. Once an author attaches himself/herself to your spirit, you tend to like what they write, but, in the back of your mind, you wonder when you’ll be disappointed. To date, that hasn’t happened for this reader. And with Perry’s newest series, The Edens, I finished Indigo Ridge rabid for more.
Set in rural Montana, Indigo Ridge is a small-town romantic suspense. For me, it feels like Perry’s Jamison Valley series. It begins with the heroine, Winslow, a detective from the Bozeman PD (yes, the same Bozeman PD where one Cole Goodman works), who has relocated to small-town Quincy, Montana where her grandfather is the mayor. Having been hired to be the Chief of Police, her work is cut out for her. On her first night in town (she has visited throughout her life given that it is her father’s hometown), she meets Griffin, a stranger in a local bar. They have instant chemistry and end their evening in the backseat of his truck. Thinking she will never see him again, she meets him again while having lunch with her grandfather. She learns that he’s an Eden, the founding family of Quincy, and neither of them is pleased to know they will run into each other again. Griffin likes one-night stands with tourists: no romantic entanglements, quick fun. Winslow is a complication he doesn’t need; however, he can’t seem to get her out of his mind. When a dead woman is found on his family’s ranch, he, unfortunately, must deal with Winslow. Fortunately, though, their chemistry ignites. And the rest is history.
Like any of her earlier series, based on Indigo Ridge, The Edens series promises more compelling, entertaining romances. From Chapter 1 of this newest book, I couldn’t stop reading. Every turn of the page illustrates the complication of the relationship between the town cad and the newest member of the Quincy Police Department. Perry is careful in constructing Winslow. She’s an outsider, she’s young, and no one believes she can do the job except for a handful of people. Even Griffin has his doubts about her abilities in the first third of the story. Yet, Devney crafts her as intelligent, insightful, and empathic, and she embodies the best qualities of a romance heroine.
Since Winslow is incredibly capable, she requires a hero such as Griffin. He is an alpha-hero, yet he recognizes her capability. I think what I love most about Griffin is his dedication to loving Winslow once he recognizes she’s “it” for him. With an alpha-male hero, there is always the risk that they will push away the heroine out of some ill attempt at protecting her. Not Griffin. And once you hit the last 10 percent of this book, you need a hero such as him. In fact, I think Indigo Ridge might be one of Perry’s most violent stories.
In terms of the romantic suspense portion of this book, I had an inkling of the villain, but I was reductive in my thinking on it. Devney Perry hides this well, which causes you to turn the page wanting to find out the culprit.
Again, I couldn’t help but inhale Indigo Ridge. The characters, the story, and the potential for more are constant reminders that Devney Perry is the master of her romance domain.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 