BOOK REVIEW-THE VENGEFUL THIEF by Mallory Crowe

Peter Slade never thought he'd be coming home. But after his family is put in danger because of his past misdeeds, he has to reconcile with the son he abandoned years ago .

But his son has been in good hands. Liv Morgan has never been the nurturing type, but when hard times forced her to move in with her best friend and her orphaned nephew, she found herself being the adoptive mother to a troublemaker with a heart of gold.

Liv has no idea what trouble really is. When Slade rolls back in town and is ready to reconcile with his son, Liv finds herself walking the thin line between the estranged father and son. And as she's more and more drawn to Slade, she realizes that if things go wrong, it will be more than just her heart breaking.

But Slade came back for a reason. His family is in danger. Liv might think that keeping him away will protect her heart, but he wants her body safe too and to do that, he's going to have to stay close. Liv is about to learn that revenge has never been this sexy...AMAZON 4 STARS

Wow, the opening chapter of the book was a surprise and starts out with a bang.  Oh, it does start out in a way that what you would consider "normal" and then "bang" it's off and running.  And then of course there is the unusual and "stunning" way that Slade and Liv first meet.  Now that was definitely a surprise.  Big Time.  

Slade isn't exactly welcomed back from the dead.  There is plenty of resentment and anger from a lot of sources when he shows up. Both from good people and bad.   From the good people, it is understandable seeing that he pretty much abandoned his sister and his son.  There are reasons but he can no longer run, he has to come face-to-face with a lot of things.  

Liv was one fierce woman when it came to Slade's son, Josh and his sister, Melissa.  They had become her family.  She was even like a second mom to Josh although he thought of her as the fun aunt."  That made me smile.  She might have been the fun aunt but she sure wasn't afraid to put herself at risk if it meant protecting him.  And she also proves that more than once.  

I had a bit of a problem when it came to why the villain wanted Slade dead.   But I had an Aha moment when it was mentioned that Thurrond was a sociopath, who only worshiped money and power.  That explained a lot, there was also another reason but you will have to read the book to get the rest of it.  

Slade had more people backing him than he realized.  He went in with one person backing him but the rest came in when he really needed them and they added a lot to the story.   There is plenty of action and a few surprises that kept the story flying by.  

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion of it.