The Hero (Thunder Point #3) by Robyn Carr

Contemporary Romance

Here is what Goodreads says:

"In a moment of desperation, Devon McAllister takes her daughter and flees a place where they should have been safe and secure. She has no idea what is around the next bend, but she is pretty certain it can't be worse than what they've left behind. Her plan is to escape to somewhere she can be invisible. Instead, an unexpected offer of assistance leads her to Thunder Point, a tiny Oregon town with a willingness to help someone in need. 
As the widowed father of a vulnerable young boy, Spencer Lawson knows something about needing friendship. But he's not looking for anything else. Instead, he's thrown his energy into his new role as Thunder Point's high school football coach. Tough and demanding to his team, off the field he's gentle and kind...just the kind of man who could heal Devon's wounded heart.
Devon thought she wanted to hide from the world. But in Thunder Point, you find bravery where you least expect it...and sometimes, you find a hero."

I listened to The Wanderer, the first book in the Thunder Point series, as an audio book and found I was hooked on the series.  When Netgalley offered The Hero, book three, I immediately requested it and once it was downloaded it moved to the top of my reading list.  

Plot:  This is a plot that revolves on escaping from a cult and learning to trust.

Characters:  I loved the fact that the main characters in the first two books were still front and center in The Hero.  Devon is a good addition to the series and it was nice that Rawley Goode has a important part in the story.  We know much more about his characters in this story.  This is a story that depends on character development and the fact that we the reader like and want to know more about the characters is important to the story. Thunder Point is also an important character is the series and it continues to be developed as the story moves along.

Writing:  The writing moves the story in an even manner.  It is an easy to read story and each elements shows up just when needed.  There are a few elements that I felt were not developed enough for the action but they did keep the story moving.  This is a story written in the active voice and everything moves based on dialog and action with a minimum coming from inside a character’s head.

Tension:  The external tension comes from the danger that Devon and her daughter are in if the cult finds them.  The internal tension comes from the changes several of the characters must make to have an HEA.

Backstory: Much of the backstory is from the previous two books in the series.  A little is from the Virgin River series but The Hero can stand on its own.  I do think that I enjoyed the story more because I know and like many of the characters already.

I have said this before.  Thunder Point is a world that is too good to be true.  There are bad people in the books but they get what is coming to them and then they disappear.  It is that ideal placed where we would all like to live and that is what keeps me reading.  I liked The Hero and am looking forward to book four in the series.

Harlequin MIRA published The Hero by Robyn Carr in 2013.