All They Need To Know

Fleeing an abusive husband, Kyra changes her identity and stumbles into Gold Creek, a small, cozy Northern California town, not dissimilar to the setting of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River (minus the pot farming). Things have a way of working out for Kyra. On her journey to Gold Creek, she rescues a remarkably well-behaved dog who calls Lassie to mind. Kyra then immediately falls into the Tattooed Ladies, a group of close, lifelong friends. In addition, she finds work that will pay her off the books (so that her husband can’t track her down), and on her first evening there, she meets a flannel-clad, Brawny logo–esque former police officer. As Kyra begins to reclaim her freedom from abuse, the novel’s predictable plot unfolds with few surprises, the exception perhaps being her chosen career of forensic artist.