She was being framed for murder.

And desperate for his protection.

Detective Sean Colton was working another case when he and Orla Roberts discovered her murdered father.

With her twin sister’s DNA all over the crime scene, Orla has become a suspect and possibly the next victim—no way was Sean letting her out of his sight.

Because even if the law and the public were crying out for justice, she was now his to keep safe…

Titles in the Coltons of New York series include — Colton’s Unusual Suspect by Marie Ferrarella —♥— Protecting Colton’s Baby by Tara Taylor Quinn —♥— Colton’s Body of Proof by Karen Whiddon —♥— Colton’s Undercover Seduction by Beth Cornelison —♥— Agent Colton’s Secret Investigation by Dana Nussio —♥— Under Colton’s Watch by Addison Fox —♥— Colton’s Deadly Affair by Jennifer D. Bokal —♥— Chasing a Colton Killer by Deborah Fletcher Mello —♥— Protecting Colton’s Secret Daughters by Lisa Childs —♥—Colton’s Montana Hideaway by Justine Davis —♥— CSI Colton and the Witness by Linda O. Johnston —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Colton’s Unusual Suspect
Series:  Coltons of New York #1
Author:  Marie Ferrarella
Genre:  Romantic Suspense
Published:  January 24, 2023
Publisher:  Harlequin Romantic Suspense
My Rating:  4 stars

Colton’s Unusual Suspect begins the Coltons of New York series with a story that, frankly, I found difficult to fall into, which is unusual for me with this ongoing continuity series of the various Colton families.  Don’t get me wrong; it’s basically a good story, but the inconsistency and the questionable way this particular police division operated put me off almost immediately.

And don’t get me started on the heroine’s hair color from the cover to the actual book description of Orla’s part of Chapter 1 “She quickly combed her silky light blond hair into place, arranging it so that it didn’t fall into her face or wind up at the mercy of the January wind.”  But the woman on the cover has dark hair.  That threw me off for the first half or more of this story.  Why?  Because I depend on the cover to give me a visual of the characters I’ll meet within the book, even when it’s the newer cartoonish style, it still gives me a hint of how to picture them in my mind as I’m reading.  You could call it my own personality quirk, but I don’t think I’m alone in this way of viewing the cover of any book, particularly romance ones. To be absolutely fair to the author, that difference is not her responsibility, that falls to the graphics/cover creation team at the publishing house to get those details right.  Yes, I only found one mention of her hair color within the story, but it was there, and someone got it wrong, in my opinion.

Aside from that hair color frustration, I enjoyed Colton’s Unusual Suspect – I didn’t love it, as I often do with the introductory story of this continuing series, yet it is a good story with an edge that kept me flipping pages to finally see an evil twin face justice for her actions.  The action is intense and fast-paced, and the romance is steamy with a lot of hesitation on anything beyond the moment; neither was thinking of a forever love and seemed almost surprised when that’s what eventually happens.  I wish I could have loved this one, and this isn’t intended as a negative review but simply my thoughts on a story that just didn’t hit the mark with me this time around, and to be fair, that sometimes happens.

As always, these are my thoughts and opinions about Colton’s Unusual Suspect, and I would strongly encourage you to read the story for yourself and make up your own mind.  No two people read the exact same story, so you decide for yourself – I liked it; it’s a good story that I enjoyed but just was often frustrated by.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

Available in print or for your favorite e-reader