#10 (2012-cbriv) "Shattered" By Karen Robards

I like to break up all the respectable books I read with a guilty pleasure romance every once in awhile. It wreaks havoc on my productivity when I do nothing but devour page after page for a day or two. However, now that I’ve read a book about introverts, I’ve realized that it’s actually a good way for me to recharge—not that I really needed the justification. So, with that thought in mind, I downloaded Shattered (2010) by Karen Robards from the library onto my kindle. I had really enjoyed the last book of hers I had read (Pursuit?) and was looking forward to this one.

I think a good rule of thumb in reading these kind of escapist books is to pick a topic that is as far as possible from your own life. That way, any lack of realism is not distracting to the plot. Being a lawyer myself, I’d probably rather not read stories about other lawyers. They’re not that glamorous or exciting when you’re around them all the time. In this story, Lisa Grant is an attorney who recently lost her job (a high-powered firm job in the Northeast with a predictable 40-hour/week work schedule!?) and moved back home to take care of her mother. She gets a new job working for the D.A.’s office because Scott Buchanan, the D.A., used to do odd jobs for her mother.

In working old cases at the D.A.’s office, Lisa stumbles on a family that mysteriously disappeared about 30 years ago. The mother of the family looks almost exactly like her. And when Lisa starts digging, bad things start happening to her. Of course, Scott Buchanan gets involved as well, and they finally get to act on the lust both of them have felt for each other since they were teenagers.

This was an entertaining and easy book to read. I finished it in one day. I enjoyed the burgeoning romance between the main characters. The mystery left a little to be desired. The only way Robards kept the mystery going was by keeping out information she should have told her readers in her descriptions. I was a little underwhelmed at the end and felt a little tricked. But I didn’t read the book for the mystery, and Robards is still one of my favorite escapist romance authors.