Yo hivers! Konnichiwa~ It's me again, your one and only ridgette! For today, I'm going to share another book review of a novel about a woman who has been alone for many years. Her dogs became the only ones whom she has ever allowed herself to love, but that will eventually change. When a dog in distress led her to a brutally butchered woman whose baby was stolen, she was compelled to team up with a cop, who seems to have trouble with his' social skills, to be able to catch the culprit. As they delve into the case of the murdered woman and her missing baby, they find themselves slowly trusting each other. Will this budding romance bloom? Or will it be crushed by the crushing pressure of secrets and uncertainties?
Mission: Cavanaugh Baby was the first book that I bought on my birthday. That time my mother bought something in the supermarket, and there were many people in line, so I decided to just wait for her on the upper floor of the mall. I wasn't really planning to purchase a book at that time because, initially, I was just going to window shop just to kill the time, but something compelled me to buy this book. The genre of the book got me intrigued because I usually don't get to read romantic suspense genres, so I decided to buy it.
I immediately read the book after we arrived home, and certainly it was one of the nicest gifts that I have bought for myself on my birthday. It was a slow-burn romance because they didn't hit off immediately, but the wait is totally worth it. Along with the suspense, tension, and anticipation, they find themselves slowly unraveling each other, but how will the discovery of their secrets affect them? Will it strengthen their trust with each other? Or will it just add to the uncertainties that they feel?
About the Book
"Everyone deserves to be loved."
Shane looked at Ashley. He got the definite impression that she wasn't talking just about the dog anymore. Did she identify with homeless, unloved creatures? He found himself more than a little curious about this pushy, headstrong officer.
Mission: Cavanaugh Baby is a novel written by Marie Ferrarella, and it was published in 2013 by Harlequin Books. The novel is about Ashley St. James, 'a glorified dog catcher', who is really passionate about her job. In her young age, she lost both of her parents in a car accident, and since then she has been alone. Burn to crisp, her parents left no trace of identification, so no one was forced to come forward and claim her. Experiencing a hard time in foster homes and in the houses of the people who tried to adopt her, she had learned her lesson not to trust people.
After surviving a rather unfortunate childhood, Ashley managed to land herself a job that she liked, but upon stumbling on an unexpected murder, the flow of her usual life was about to change. Will this change bring her happiness, or will it be like the other ones before it? Bursting once she got hold of it, leaving her alone once again.
How It Started
After stumbling into a crime scene, she witnessed a heavily wounded woman struggling to say her last word, and hearing it somehow shed light on what happened to the murdered woman. What happened to her wasn't just some random, merciless attacked by a deranged psychopath who had broken into her apartment. This was done deliberately because someone killed her to get something from her, and it's her baby. It was kidnapped before it was even born. Being the first one to arrive at the crime scene, she was naturally questioned.
She's the only one who's able to tame the dog, which was the only possible lead to the killer. Ashley was compelled to team up with the prickly cop, Shane Cavanaugh. They didn't get along immediately, but as they got to know each other's personalities and eventually some of their secrets, they found themselves getting comfortable with each other. Slowly and steadily, they started to feel something for each other, and it wasn't just the tension and anticipation, but something that ran deeper. Something far more dangerous and, at the same time, gratifying.
How It Ended
After going through a lot of investigations and ordeals to catch the suspect, they were finally able to pinpoint who really murdered the poor woman. It turned out that it was an old nurse. She was fired because of her strange behavior toward the patients with new-born babies. They're able to save the baby in a dangerous yet successful way. Ashley was relieved because, finally, the baby was found, but seeing the baby made her reminisce about her younger self. It was completely alone now because the father of the baby totally doesn't want her, nor does her grandfather, who had already condemned the baby before she was born. Seeing herself in that baby, Ashley decided to adopt her. She doesn't want the baby to undergo the same horrible childhood that she had.
Upon knowing this, Shane suggested that she should sleep on it and think carefully about it. Despite Shane's suggestion, Ashley was certain that her decision would not change at any time. Shane saw this as an opportunity to offer her an offer that she almost didn't believe—he offered himself to be her lifetime partner. She was dumbfounded, but later on she recovered and pointed out that no good things happen in her life. She also had a good thing that happened before; she told Shane that she had once a child. Although she was not with the father of the child anymore, she vowed to take care of the child, but unfortunately, the child was stillborn. Due to that, she developed fear for the good things that happened to her.
She did not want to undergo the same pain as the one that she had experienced from the death of her child, so she flatly refused Shane. Regardless of the refusal, Shane intended to persuade her, and fortunately, through the tedious verbal persuasion that he had done, he was able to make her say yes to his proposal. Shane fully intends to change her life, and he also wants to make her experience the good that she deserves and has failed to have, but first he intends to reduce the months given to her to come to his senses. Shane fully intended to pare the months down to—hopefully zero.
It was really the first romance novel that I have read that didn't really include saying I love you to express their affection for each other. Shane and Ashley were much more of a physical couple; they tend to express their feelings for each other through actions and gestures. They taught me that there are things worth risking for. They both experience unfortunate events in their lives that lead them to conclude that happiness is a fleeting fancy, but upon meeting each other, they realized that happiness isn't like that. Happiness is a choice, and if you decide to be happy, then you'll be happy, and if you don't, you'll not be. It's really just a simple logic, but most of us complicate these simple things.
Overall, the novel was great! I enjoyed reading it because it doesn't really focus only on the advancement of their romantic relationship. Rather, it focused more on the growth of their character as they little by little let go of the things that impeded their ability to move forward. I also love the fact that the tension and anticipation of their slow-burn romance equally matched the suspense that I felt while reading their journey towards discovering who was really the culprit for the murder. The subtle sensuality in their dialogues was one of the reasons that compelled me to really finish the novel. Indeed, if you're looking for a romantic suspense novel that is totally worth reading, then Mission: Cavanaugh Baby is definitely for you, and I rate it 4.9/5.
That's all for now, bookworms. See you again next time for my next book review—and take note, it's not spoiler-free!
