Deeper Than Need by Shiloh Walker – a Review

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Description:
Trinity Ewing—she’s new in Madison, and her one goal is to put her old life behind her. She’s made mistakes. A lot of them. She’s done everything short of selling herself to stay alive and provide for her son. Now she’s just looking for a place to put down roots and call home. The old ramshackle house on the banks of the Ohio River seem to be the perfect place. It needs work—a lot of it.

A former minister, Noah Benningfield now works as a carpenter. He hasn’t entirely lost his faith, but he has lost himself. Which is exactly how he likes it. He doesn’t want to find himself, because then he’d have to look at the many ways he failed. Working with his hands is easier. Or so he thinks. He hasn’t ever had a job where he uncovers a skeleton, though. Not until now.

He can’t help but wonder…are these the remains of Lana, the girl he’d loved in high school? Losing her had all but destroyed his life back then, a life he has only now pieced together. Even as he deals with the turmoil of that, there’s a new turmoil, one caused by Trinity—she’s everything he won’t let himself have, and everything he realizes he wants.

Life becomes even more complicated when a ghost from the past blows back into town… Bethany Sutter—one of the last people to see Lana alive all those years ago

Review:
Deeper Than Need is the 1^st full length book in Shiloh Walker’s Secrets & Shadows series. The series started with three novellas, which I did not know about, but it did not matter when reading this book, as it read very well without reading the others. Though after reading this book, I am interested in reading the novellas.

The story takes place in a small town, where our heroine, Trinity Ewing having recently arrived in town with her young son, has purchased a house, which is in need of much repair. The house also unknown to Trinity has a tragic history, which will drive this story.

Noah Benningfield is our hero, a former preacher, who now has his own contracting business. Noah is fixing up Trinity’s house, and both of them feel the immediate sparks between them. But neither is able or willing to act on those feelings. Trinity has run away from her past, with her ex-husband, and has no desire to become involved with any man. Noah spent 20 years trying to get over the tragedy of a lost love when he was a teenager, which drove him to become an alchoholic. He has since recovered and aside from his business, he also helps with phone support for teenagers, with problems.

Though both have major obstacles, they are drawn together with the restoration of the house, and the mystery that begins to surface when a body is found in the cellar. Shiloh Walker does a wonderful job of building this romance, even with each having terrible demons of the past. You can feel the heat between them, and Walker does not rush this. One of my pet peeves is when other stories have the couple fall in love on page 2, not giving any time to a romance. Not so here. This was done perfectly. I loved watching them fight their feelings; watching them become closer, trying to help each other; and loved the interaction with Noah, who was adorable. By the time we got ¾ through the book, I was anxiously rooting for them to act on those feelings NOW. When they finally succumbed, it was well worth the wait, as everything sizzled around them. Very well done.

The mystery was the main focus of the story, with the entire town involved to discover the truth about what happened 20 years ago. There were quite a few twists and turns, keeping us on our toes. If you didn’t pay close attention you would miss something important. I was at times a bit confused at what was happening, as Walker kept us guessing throughout. We do have a resolution though it did come fast and furious at the end. The next book in this series may give us more information, as one of the main characters is the hero in it. Deeper Than Need by Shiloh Walker was an excellent romance suspense story, with a great couple. I recommend that you read this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher