Title:  Lost in Tennessee
Series:  Lost #1
Author:  Anita DeVito
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 19, 2015
Publisher:  Entangled Select Suspense
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Sometimes a man finds trouble…and sometimes it comes looking for him…

Heartache makes for good country music. It’s what country superstar Butch McCormick keeps telling himself. He’s done with women and can’t handle one more disappointment. He’s taking a few months off to work on the old house on his parents’ land to fix shutters, scrape paint, and figure out what he wants in life…

Then she appears out of nowhere, with red hair and a peaches-and-cream complexion…and just so damned lost.

Architect Kate Riley doesn’t have the luxury of getting lost, having a damaged car, or being smitten by a sexy-talkin’ cowboy with an irresistible smile. But the longer Kate stays at Elderberry Farm, the stranger things get. For one, there’s the crazy chemistry between her and Butch. For another, dead bodies are starting to turn up…and Kate might be the murderer’s next victim.

Read on for my thoughts on Lost in Tennessee.  No true spoilers, promise.

Kate might not have believed it at the time, but getting lost was probably the best thing that’s happened to her – as long as she survives a madman’s killing spree.

Lost in Tennessee is an intriguing, involved love story with a lot of suspense tossed in.  I won’t say that you will not pick out the bad person until the end, because some folks are really good at solving mysteries – but you’ll be guessing, and second guessing your suspects along the way to the reveal.

Butch McCormick has had it all – fame, glory, superstar country singer, women and enough money in the bank to satisfy any man.  But it’s all feeling kinda like sawdust.  Annoying stuff that gets into everything and has to be cleaned up.  And his life needs cleaned up big time.  Right about now the very last thing Butch needs is another woman – but damn, what a woman Kate Riley is.  She might be lost but she could be everything he ever wanted to find.

The romance between Butch and Kate develops naturally from attraction to a light friendship with attraction around the edges to a full blown romance.  It was shown to us in a very normal fashion.  There was no insta-love, attraction yes but it went at a pace that made sense.  Kate is a strong, charming woman who is just like any other woman.  She screws up, she makes things right.  She works hard and knows when to step back and relax.  Her attraction to Butch has nothing to do with his fame as a singer, but as the charming cowboy who knows how to get under a woman’s skin before he tries for her skirts.  I liked this couple very much because they were so real.  And that believable factor is just as important to me as the entire storyline.  If I can picture a couple in real life, then I’m going to believe in their story.

The suspense, mystery factor is tight.  I made a few wrong turns before I settled on the one I thought was guilty.  But, you know, mysteries are tricky.  Everyone has their own internal Sherlock Holmes to guide them along, some might get it right the first guess, others it might take a while.  But that’s okay I enjoyed the suspense almost as much as the romance.

I would highly recommend Lost in Tennessee for mystery and romance readers.  It’s a fascinating story, with realistic characters and a very good story.  Hard to ask for much more than that.

*I received an e-ARC of Lost in Tennessee from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Available for the Kindle