I don’t really do beach reads. I just keep reading at the beach. So on a recent family reunion to the beach, the Kindle got a little sandy 😉 .

First up, I read Dead Running by Cami Checketts.

Cassidy Christensen is running. Running from the mercenaries who killed her parents. Running from a scheming redhead intent on making her life miserable. Running from painful memories that sabotage her dreams of happiness. With two very tempting men competing for her attention, she hopes she’ll finally have someone to run to, but can she trust either of them? When secrets from her past threaten her family, Cassidy decides to stop running and fight for her future.

A light-hearted suspense with a side of PG-rated romance, Dead Running will have you lacing up your running shoes and impatiently waiting for the sequel.

I wholeheartedly agree with the last line of the summary: this is definitely a lighter suspense novel, though the suspense is still there. I thought the bad guys’ ultimate scheme was well done. I started to get a little annoyed at Cassidy for not being able to choose between the two men pursuing her—love triangles, blech—but I managed to forgive her because her voice is so much fun to read! I really missed it when we were in sections of the book not narrated by her. Those sections felt almost bland and distant.

Like Cassidy at the start of the book, I hate running. But following her journey throughout the novel made me believe I could run a marathon. (Almost thou persuadest me to be a runner…) We get into the technical side of running and marathon training without feeling like we’re reading a manual (though there is a little jargon—I’m the kind of reader who tends to gloss over that without being overly bothered, though).

Some elements of the plot might be a little unrealistic, but, hey, it’s fiction. It’s fun. Run with it 😉 .

I got this book during a free promo on Amazon.