Say No More by Karen Rose ~a Review

by Donna Huber

Say No More is the second book in Karen Rose's Sacramento series. It continues the story of Mercy and Gideon and their escape from a religious cult.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

August 2020; Berkley; 978-1984805300
audio, ebook, print (640 pages); romantic suspense

I absolutely loved reading the tension-filled read of book 1 Say You're Sorry (read my review). It was difficult to put that book down. I was expecting the same "on the edge of my seat" read with the second book. 

I was kind of hazy on the details from the first book, but that's okay as the first few chapters sprinkled details that jogged my memory. I think you would be safe reading this book on its own. All the characters are introduced well in this book, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of. While the first book was focused more on Gideon and Daisy, Mercy and her relationship with Rafe is the focus in the sequel. In Say You're Sorry, I thought Rose did a good job balancing character and plot as the driving factors of the story. However, Say No More is definitely a character-driven story. And I loved all the characters.

I felt the plot line of finding Eden (the religious cult) was more background dressing - there to give the characters something to do. While I usually enjoy stories about characters overcoming great hardships (in Mercy's case the abuse she endured at the cult and being abducted by a serial killer), I was really looking for a heart-pounding tale of suspense. 

Say No More was much heavier on the romance and lighter of suspense than the previous book, and it disappointed me. Because it wasn't what I was expecting. It was still a good story that I enjoyed: I wanted something with more tension.

As with the first book, there are some heated romantic scenes - I skimmed over two such scenes. 

I liked getting more info about the cult and it set up the next book well. I'm not sure how many books Rose has planned for this series, but the plotline with Eden feels like a 3 book arc - book 1 introduced the cult, book 2 uncovers the cult's secrets, book 3 they take down the cult. I'm also not sure who the focused characters would be in the next book. Several couples were introduced that could take center stage. I know which couple I would like to know more about as I felt that there was more being hinted at about their relationship than was revealed in this book.

If you enjoy romantic suspense that leans more towards romance, then this is definitely a book for you.

Buy Say No More at Amazon

Start reading

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

Get even more book news in your inbox, sign up today! Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.