BOOK REVIEW- OUT OF THE MIST

Beaten and left for dead, Juliet awakens in the rain with no memory of how she ended up alone on an isolated road. After another attempt on her life, she'll have to pour her faith into the one man who's made it clear he doesn't trust her.
Injured drug agent Matt Barnes has seen just about everything in a decade battling the worst humanity has to offer. But he's never seen anything like Julie. The beautiful blonde reminds him more of sorority Barbie than a ruthless drug kingpin. But looks can be deceiving. He's got the bullet hole to prove it.Juliet-- and her memory are all he has in a case going nowhere. To erase the worst mistake of his career, his team will utilize her to lure the most dangerous drug lord he's ever battled. But will the woman he's fallen in love with ever forgive him for making her the bait?    AMAZON 4.5 STARS

The story opens up with a jolt in the beginning of the very first chapter. It's a power packed story with lots of action, mystery, romance and danger. Matt is on medical leave as he heals after his last disastrous assignment. But that doesn't keep him from being involved with this latest  snafu.  Is the woman found beaten, and wandering in the rain an innocent or is she neck deep in criminal activities?  That question is something that is asked over and over again in the story.  Even Juliet doesn't have any answers as she tries to get any glimmer of memory to help her sort things out. She needs answers and she needs them NOW! Matt is one tough, by the book investigator who gives commands and expects them to be followed.  That style of dealing with Juliet, does NOT sit well with her.  About the time she has moments of trusting him, she has proof once again that he is not on her side.  It made for quite the roller coaster ride for her.  She was still recovering from some of her injuries, while the emotional burden gets heavier and heavier.  And so does the evidence that's beginning to stack up against her.  Matt may be in charge but the emotions are high for him as well. At one point he was described as the cranky agent, that fit most of the time. He's still battling guilt from the previous assignment where he failed to protect an informant.  He doesn't want to fail when it comes to protecting or finding out the truth about Juliet.  Even if he doesn't have proof yet whether she is a victim or a suspect. And he doesn't want to be played for a fool.  Plenty of twists and turns will make you wonder too.  But more along the lines of who the bad guys are, how many are there and what they have been up to.  But the dangerous drug lord that his team has been hunting for so long is still the main villain.  And the author keeps the tension level up really well.  I will say that 2 people that I was suspicious of, proved to be people who were not as good as they appeared to be.  But, that didn't ruin the story for me, because the author did a really good job of weaving the story.  I liked the way that she carefully put out bread crumbs of information here and there.  It was a little bit like fishing.  Baiting the hook and then reeling the reader in. 
There were other people who were interesting additions to the story and I especially got a smile out of Matt's mom.  She shows up uninvited  to the "party".   But that doesn't slow her down one little bit. 

The sneak peek into Book 2 "Out of Reach" looks promising too.  Alyssa Barnes (Matt's sister) looks to be quite the little fireball!
This author is new to me but I will be looking into more of her books. 

"I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review"