ARC Review: Dark Waters by Toni Anderson

Dark Waters
Author: Toni Anderson
Publication: Montlake Romance; Unabridged edition (August 6, 2013)

Description: Danger once again laps at the shores of Barkley Sound, the Graveyard of the Pacific…

Since her rocky childhood and its abrupt, brutal ending, schoolteacher Anna Silver hasn’t given her trust easily. But when her estranged father gets in over his head—again—and winds up dead, his last message to Anna is as clear as it is insistent: she’s in danger and Brent Carver, the man with whom he shared a prison cell for five years, is the only person she should turn to for help. With nowhere else to go and with her father’s killer on her trail, Anna flees to what she hopes is safety.

Tucked into the west coast of Vancouver Island, Brent Carver’s isolated home hasn’t seen many visitors. And his friend’s daughter is the last person he ever expected to grace his doorstep. She’s in trouble, and he can’t deny her protection…just as he can’t deny his attraction to the independent beauty. As their passion sparks into flame, the perfect storm brews off the coast of his island home, bringing with it a sadistic killer hunting Anna and the secrets she’s come close to uncovering.

My Thoughts: Anna Silver is jolted out of the safe but boring life she has made for herself when she gets a phone call from her ex-con father Davis who says he has stumbled on a plot to steal $60 million which he has diverted and moved to another account. He says he is sending her proof and wants her to go to his best friend to keep her safe. Then her father is killed.

Anna travels to an isolated part of British Colombia to see Brent Carver who was her father's cellmate when he was in prison and who is his best friend. Brent was sentence to life in prison at the age of sixteen for killing his father who was beating Brent's younger brother again. Brent feels guilty for killing the father he loved. So guilty that he has isolated himself from anyone who might get close to him. He discovered a talent for art while in prison and is now a famous painter though he uses another name.

Brent will do anything to keep from going back to prison. He isn't eager to get involved when Anna comes to see him. But he owes her father a debt because of their friendship. And, besides, he is halfway in love with Anna because of the letters she wrote her father that he read aloud over and over again. 

The villains are ex-military who earned their money doing black ops and mercenary activities. They will do anything to get their money back and really want the information Anna's father mailed to her. The prime villain is a loony named Rand who gets off on raping and torturing women. Finding Anna will give him the opportunity to do that as well as get their money back. 

Another plot thread features Anna's mother Katherine and her second husband Ed. Katherine didn't handle her first husband's conviction as an embezzler well but Ed was their to pick up the pieces. Now she is stronger and beginning to resent how controlling Ed is. When she finds out that her first husband has died, she feels a mixture of guilt and grief. 

The story is filled with action and excitement. It is also filled with Anna and Brent falling in love despite the obstacles of their backgrounds and their current problems. I enjoyed this story very much and look forward to more by Toni Anderson.

Favorite Quote:

"Oh, I'm definitely a fool." He scowled. "Having done time, Davis made an even better patsy second time around, except he caught on. Stopped them in their tracks."

"Oh, please. No one is that unlucky."

"Seriously?" He looked at her like she'd started speaking dog. "What planet are you from?"

Fury lit a flame under her skin. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

I got this ARC through the Amazon Vine program. You can buy your copy here.