WATERFALL EFFECT by K K ALLEN

“I loved you with everything I had.”

We adored K.K. Allen’s Up previous books and have been looking forward to reading more of this talented author’s work, so the romantic suspense, Waterfall Effect grabbed our attention!

Whilst Waterfall Effect is classed as a romantic suspense, it also encompasses others themes we love such as small-town romance, childhood friends to lovers (a theme we find this author handles particularly well), forbidden love, a second chance love story and a suspenseful mystery that kept our interest piqued as we’re taken through past/present switches throughout the story to uncover what transpired seven years previous.

Now, we feel this story is best enjoyed by going in relatively blind. The synopsis provides enough information to whet the appetite and by allowing the story to unfold organically, through the authors’ words is definitely recommended.

“Your home is with me. Anywhere you want it to be. We don’t have to go back.”

We know from the outset that Aurora June was the lucky survivor of a kidnapping and possible murder by her father, Henry June in the small town of Balsam Grove. Although Aurora suffers a memory lapse of the three days she was held captive in a cave by her father, and despite the evidence against him, Aurora always felt her father was innocent of her kidnapping and the murder of six other girls in the area, with Aurora to be his seventh victim.

Directly following her father’s incarceration, Aurora flees Balsam Grove, and the love of her life, Jaxon Mills. Breaking both of their hearts. Fast forward seven years and Aurora is returning to Balsam Grove in an effort to confront her past, find herself and hopefully move forward with her life.

“It’s a good thing you came back when you did. I was beginning to run out of memories.”

Aurora had always had a crush on Jaxon Mills which began when she was only eight years old, and it was a crush that never faded, ending up in love with him when she was only 17 and Jaxon was 21, although theirs would be a forbidden love due to their age difference. The intensity and depth of their feelings had never abated over the seven year separation, and soon, old feelings are reignited upon Aurora’s return to their hometown.

“Feelings like what Jax and I had don’t just go away. Seven years is a long time, but he’s still my first…everything. People hurt each other, and we were young. People change, you know.”

Are Aurora’s feelings about her father’s innocence justified, and can Jaxon and Aurora put their pasts behind them to build a future or will the sins of the past forever haunt them?

‘I wanted to fall. To let his rapids carry me and take me over the edge. I wanted to live in his waterfall. Not drown in his cascade.’

K.K. Allen is a gifted storyteller and whilst admittedly, we did struggle to initially get into the groove of the story, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves swept up in the love, romance, and mystery of The Waterfall Effect, wanting to desperately uncover the secrets of this small town.