Understory

Author: Lisa Lickel
Genre: Romantic Suspense

When nobody loves you, you have nothing to lose.
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Lily Masters is not getting involved with any fake job scheme covering a sex trafficking operation supposedly cooked up by her stepbrother, prison guard, Art Townsend. Hoping to get help at a friend’s place deep in the woods of northern Wisconsin, before a blizzard, Lily loses her way. At first, she doesn’t realize how fortunate she is to be found by Cam Taylor, a 

poetry-spouting former lit professor. Cam has his own reasons to hide while writing a biography of his Civil Rights activist grandparents and accidentally stirs up a cold case murder involving a potential Supreme Court judge. When trouble follows, either of them is the likely target.

Beneath every story is layer upon layer of trust and lies. Who can they believe when things go from surreal to devastating?

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Reviewer: Laura J. Davis

When I first agreed to review Understory by Lisa J. Lickel I had the impression it would be a rather tame love story - about a girl born with a disability, who tried hard to overcome her feelings of self-loathing and the prejudice of what she looked like, who meets a man dealing with his own issues and they fall in love. However, when I received the book I realized it was more along the lines of a thriller/suspense, involving murder, deception and a sex-trafficking ring. Not quite what I was expecting, but Lisa is a good writer so I was drawn in from the first page. 
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The story is intriguing, and has lots of layers or Understory (the title is so appropriate!), but overall I must admit I was a bit disappointed and lost a time or too as I tried to follow all the setups. I think this is because it is not the type of book I typically read. The character of Lily was not quite as developed as I would have liked. It was clear she had some kind of deformity, but it was never clear (until the end) what the disease was and even after it was explained I had a hard time picturing it. The love-story that developed between Lily and Cam also did not seem real to me, but more of an "add-on" to a story that was already full of action. 

Overall, I think the book will appeal to those who like action and suspense. I lean more toward historical romances, so I will admit I was probably not the best person to review this book. It is not an overtly Christian book so it could be enjoyed by anyone.

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