Book Review: Just Enough Light by A.J. Quinn

Just Enough Light by A.J. Quinn is a wonderful contemporary romance with a dash of suspense and mystery. Kellen Ryan has taken the survival skills she learned on the streets and used them to create an elite search-and-rescue operation, as well as the first home she’s known in forever—a sanctuary in Haven, Colorado, high in the Rockies. A small mountain town was the last place Harvard-educated Dr. Dana Kingston expected to find herself. Still, when she’s offered an opportunity to partner with Kellen’s operation and develop a medical triage center, Dana follows her heart. Dana falls hard and fast for the enigmatic Kellen. But she quickly realizes Kellen’s heart is as carefully guarded as her past, and breaking through will take time. Except time is the one thing they may not have, because a deadly threat has returned, and this time he plans to finish what he started.

Just Enough Light is a story with wonderfully complex characters. Kellen has survived much, a horrible home life, time on the streets, and a fall that would have killed most people. However, she is still determined to help others and rescue everyone she can, even when it means putting herself at risk. The only thing she really does not want to face is her past. Dana is a doctor that wants to live her life for herself and make her own decisions. Working with Search and Rescue in the Rockies seems like a great way to start over. She did not expect to need rescuing, or to fall in love. But, life and love seem to have their own ideas. Finding their footing in their working roles, and in the relationship has its pitfalls. But when danger comes too close for comfort the past must be confronted and Kellen needs to face down more than a grieving murderer, she also needs to face her past and decide if she is ready to stick around and forge a brighter future. A great love story, and interesting mystery, and a look at characters with different backgrounds and history. I really enjoyed the look at how the past can shape our present, but that we have control over who we become. I also found that I loved the pure honesty ad organic nature of the love story. At no point did the fact that the romantic interests were both woman become the major point of the story. They are just two people in love. That is beautiful. Too often the heart of the story gets lost in the gender, sexual orientation, or race of a character rather than just enjoying that we are all people and none of that really matters.

Just Enough Light is a well-told romance. I like that the psychological scars of the characters are addressed, but at no point is that the main point of the story. The love story was just so natural and organic that any aspect of the story that might otherwise override it just melted away. Great writing, I look forward to more from the author.