Thunder Creek [Mass Market Paperback]

Description from back of book:

In a place called thunder creek, two wary hearts are about to get a second chance at love...

When Katy Templeton fled her small Wyoming town and its painful memories, she thought she'd said good-bye to Thunder Creek forever. But now the prodigal daughter has come home. Home to the relentless ghosts of the past. Home to Jackson Brent, the lean, hard cowboy with the lazy smile-and the last person on earth she ever wanted to lay eyes on again...

Time and tragedy had come between them, but Jackson never forgot his best friend's kid sister. The coltish beauty blossomed into a stunning woman, burned by love yet unafraid to take on the whole town to get justice for her family. Katy blames him for her beloved brother's death, but as she digs for answers about that fateful day fourteen years earlier, there is someone ready to kill to keep her from getting them-and Jackson might be the only one who can save her. He wants her safe--and in his arms, but Katy can't rest until she discovers the truth. Fighting her red-hot attraction to Jackson, Katy risks everything-even the yearnings of her own heart-to unravel the truth about her brother's death...

* This is the first in a 3 book series & I think it's off to a wonderful start. I usually go for the historical romances but since I'm a Jill Gregory fan I gave this series a try even though it's Contemporary Romances. The people were very interesting, the story line was awesome, the mystery (although I'd figured out most of it) was very suspenseful & the romance/relationship was amazing. I don't see how any Jill Gregory fan or any fan of contemporary romances could not enjoy this book. Highly recommended. It looks to be a very promosing series.

I purchased a lot of books by Jill Gegory off of Ebay.. I am so sorry I did.. I read Thunder Creek and it never went any where.. there was no mystery.. and the authors style of writing is just awful.. The characters never developed..and there was sssooo much monologuing I set the book down atleast a dozen times to get away from it. The author constantly tells how the characters say things with their eyes.. it was just terrible writing.. steady gazes..met his gaze..his gaze was riveted..met her gaze squarley.. cool blue eyes..the color of gunsmoke watched her impassively..the black cat center of her amber cat eyes darkening..razor sharp light rown eyes glinted..warm interest in his crinkled brown eyes...unreadable eyes..something flickered deep in his eyes..her eyes soft and troubled in the moonlight..piercing eyes..his gaze was not..his gaze sweeping..blue gray eyes fixed unrelentingly..his gaze locked..her eyes flashing..gorgeous blue eyes full of concern.. his eyes unreadable..I can keep going and going.. it was like that on every page!! The characters needed to wear sunglasses and quit talking in their heads.. I think I rolled my eyes until they were almost stuck in the up position permantly..I have the other two books in the Thunder set as well..but they do not seem to have anything to do with the previous characters..just the town.. I can not even muster the energy to read them. I think the author went well above the call of using descriptive words in her writing. I am not a fan and will not in the future purchase her books.

I recently purchased a box of used books containing random authors that I'd never read before and have been going through the stacks. Thunder Creek was the next in line and from the very first page, I was completely hooked and found myself immersed in a wonderful fast paced story filled with mystery, suspense, and fantastic chemistry. What is shocking to me is that there are so few reviews on this book so if you come across a Jill Gregory book, give it a chance.

Katy Templeton is a 28 year old, beautiful and successful restaurant chain owner who's suffered great loss in her life. At 14, she lost her brother Matt to a tragic accident and couldn't wait to get away from the small Wyoming town that holds so much pain for her. Fourteen years later, she's reeling from the miscarriage of her daughter and a divorce from her husband and business partner. When her grandmother comes down with pneumonia, Katy decides it's the perfect time to help out her family and hopefully take some time to figure out her next step, so she goes home after a ten year absence. She's looking forward to reconnecting with some of her oldest friends, but what she wasn't prepared for was the return of Jackson Brent, her brother's best friend who had also left town, and the person she ultimately blames for Matt's death.

While back home, she decides to go through some of Matt's old memorobilia and comes across the last notebook he ever wrote in. What she finds chills her to her bones because not only did Matt write down that he needed to talk to the sherriff, but he drew a picture of a dead woman lying in some grass. When Katy decides to start asking questions about why he would have done this, she goes to those who were closest to him for answers which leads her back to Jackson. Jackson is just as disturbed by the picture and together they start to unravel the truth of exactly what happened 14 years ago and that Matt's death may not have been an accident afterall.

There are so many things that I liked about this book. Right from the short prologue, this story weaves and intriguing web that pulls you in and doesn't let go. There were so many suspects, side stories, and distractions that I didn't figure out the ending until, well, the ending. Although alot was going on in the side stories, they all tied in nicely back to Katy and her wonderfully developed relationship with Jackson. Last, but certainly not least, Katy and Jackson were simply great characters. Katy had some TSTL moments, but with Jackson by her side, they were an unbeatable unit and I love how the two worked together and shared with one another to not only solve a complicated mystery, but create a sexy and engaging love story as well.