Kill Me If You Can [Paperback]

Patricia Amble has returned to a childhood locale in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in hopes of discovering clues into the secrets of her past as well as opening a new vista of opportunities as she pursues her interest in locating, redecorating and restoring historical residences.

"Kill Me If You Can" is the second in the Patricia Amble Mystery series. Award winning author, Nicole Young's descriptions of Michigan's natural beauty and locales are brilliant and provide an incredible back drop for her story of suspense, intrigue, mystery, and romance.

Because of her determination for independence, a sense of guilt, stubbornness, pride, sensitivity, vulnerability, and justice Tish often finds she is conflicted and as a result makes decisions which lead to possible risk and put her life in jeopardy.

The book is written as a first person narrative. Nicole has done a superb job of revealing Patricia's thoughts and emotions. The characters that surround Patricia are varied all believable, some despicable, others genuine. All are flawed people building lives and relationships. An element of self esteem, abuse, and healing is embedded in the plot to give substance and a message through the platform of fiction. Key characters are at various levels of understanding in their spiritual journey and as they express their concern for others the message of God's love and forgiveness is clearly presented.

Nicole builds a sustained interest through a constant development and escalation of the action in her complex plot. Her character interaction is strong and distinctive. Nicole Young's writing is compelling, compassionate, and inspirational. "Kill Me If You Can" touches the heart through action adventure, intrigue, and mystery.

Tish Amble is running away. She's left the town of Rawlings and the man she loves for the old family cabin on the shores of Northern Michigan. There she discovers that the remnants of her estranged family still rule the area with fear and threats. There are secrets about her parents and grandparents that are yet to be discovered. But someone doesn't want the past to be revealed and is doing all they can to make sure Tish doesn't find out.

I love reading about books that deal with redecorating and home renovations. Tish should have her own show on the H&G network. Her goals in life would fit perfectly into the channel's lineup. Throughout the book she struggles with her feelings from how she should feel about Brad to her ties with her family. What confused me at first was Tish's relationship with her grandfather. Maybe it was just me but the way I originally read into it was that they did not get along at all. Imagine my surprise when there are hugs and memories all around. I did enjoy learning more about her past. In the first book, we are only introduced to a little slice of Tish's life so it was interesting to dig deeper into her history. And boy does she have a complicated family history! No wonder she doesn't go around telling others about it. I wished that her relationship could have been resolved more throughout the book. They had good chemistry in the first book and it was difficult seeing them apart in this one. It was also very interesting to see how the subjects of infidelity and drug use are dealt with. With a cliffhanger ending that will knock your socks off, the next book can't come fast enough. I'm looking forward to the next chapter into finding out the secrets of Tish Amble's life. Fantastic second book for Nicole Young.

I'm sorry to say that after loving the first in this series, I didn't like this one at all. The main character, Tish, really got on my nerves because she was being a jerk to her only true friends in the world throughout most of this book. There were also alot of characters & names & backstories to keep track of, and I found myself really confused. I never figured out why Tish at first didn't like her newly found relatives because they were mean to her, but wanted to stay in the town with them just because they were her family. Afer liking Tish so much in the first book for being a smart and independent character, this book made her seem naive, irresponsible, and needy...and the story just didn't flow very well. I still intend to read the third book and think the series will turn out well, but this particular story was frustrating!