Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd
Last Seen in Gothic series #1. Contemporary thriller, romantic expense.
Adam Ramsdell finds a floating body in the ocean surf near his house on Gothic. He’s shocked when that body starts coughing up water and is obviously still alive. But all she remembers is that her name is Elle and she’s terrified of something out in the world. Adams agrees she can stay in his home as she tries to remember her past and perhaps escape the impending danger.

Intriguing romantic suspense with surprising twists and unusual coincidences. Not sure I trust Madame Rune but she is a crafty and entertaining woman.
4.5 ( )

A town named Gothic. The California Coast. A secret scientific mission. A shipwreck. A fortune teller. A movie actress. A brooding hero with a past. A girl with amnesia. A castle with a tumbling tower. A small town where everyone knows everyone. A bad guy. Brain eating bacteria. A festival. A duel. This book covers a lot of ground. Throw in some twists about bad guys showing up and even family secrets. Overall, it makes for a fun, summer read.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022/07/point-last-seen.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour. ( )

This is a great story with lots of suspense and romance. I love the town of Gothic. Elle and Adam are wonderful characters. I loved all the citizens of Gothic. I loved the psychic festival. I really enjoyed how Elle works to get her memories back. I loved that the story kept me guessing til the end. I received a copy of this book from HQN for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will. ( )

Overall, this book just didn’t do it for me. I enjoyed the mystery/thriller thread that ran throughout the book. Wondering what happened to Elle. Who tried to kill her and is still after her? Will she regain her memory? And what was the mystery behind Adam’s isolation in the town of Gothic, “The City of Lost Souls”. This is a very dark mystery, and that is what kept me reading.

But I did not care at all for the romance thread. It was just too cheesy for me. It begins with Adam finding her in the water and slinging her over his shoulder to get her lifeless body to shore. But when he does that, she expels the water in her lungs and comes back to life. The sexual tension between them reads like a couple of high schoolers. If I had been through what Elle had just been through, sex would be the absolute last thing on my mind.

I did love Rune, a transgender psychotherapist turned psychic. But the author was inconsistent with her pronouns. And the” surprise ending” was too forced for me. But I can say that several of the romantic scenes and the villains were comical, so I did get some laughs from it. And there were some suspenseful twists and turns.

Thank you to HQN for the advance copy. All opinions are my own. ( )

Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd is a recommended mystery with romance overtones.

Gothic, the city of lost souls, is a town on the Pacific coast where everyone has a past. When Adam Ramsdell, recovering from his own personal issues, finds a body in the surf he is shocked to discover she is still alive. Elle is covered with bruises, weak, and frightened. Certainly the obvious hand prints around her throat indicate someone meant to harm her. She doesn't remember what happened and doesn't remember her full name. She does know she wants to avoid authorities and calling attention to herself. Adam does his best to care for her, but he keeps getting the feeling that he is being watched. The obvious fact is that in the small town of Gothic, a newcomer with bruises can't hide and rumors are bound to spread quickly about the woman who washed ashore half dead.

Once the story sets up the initial plot, introduces the characters, and reveals who Elle is and who is looking for her, things get a bit paradoxical. She can't remember her last name and is seriously injured, but she's able to admire Adam in a less than chaste manner. The plot lost all seriousness for me at that point because I knew what we were going to experience was some trope on a damsel in distress saved by a knight in shining armor. You can proclaim that the damsel is a strong, independent woman all you want, but the plot is still headed down this well-trodden path.

Stick this out for the mystery/action/thriller portion and suspend your disbelief on the rest. The writing is good and the mystery/thriller part of the novel will hold your interest while you flip through the rest. If romance novels are your preference, this will be an appealing novel for you and a good choice for a summer read.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2022/06/point-last-seen.html ( )