Review: Karma by Carly Phillips

Karma 
Book 3 in the Serendipity series
Author: Carly Phillips
Publisher:  Berkeley
Release date: 5/1/12
Author's website:  Link

Police Officer Dare Barron has had a crush on Liza McKnight ever since he was a teenager. But despite his lifelong attraction, the closest he’s ever come to interacting with her is watching Liza regularly bail out her brother at the station. Dare’s dark past with Liza’s brother, Brian, has always kept him from pursuing her.

But suddenly Liza finds herself in need of protection and Dare appoints himself as the man for the job. And while the sizzling attraction between Dare and Liza draws them together, the past that Dare and Brian share threatens to keep the two apart forever.

In the previous 2 books in the series we get a chance to learn more about the oldest Barron brothers Ethan and Nash.  Now the youngest out of the 3, Dare, to gets his time to shine in Karma.  He's a cop in the town of Serendipity and through his job he is reunited with someone from his past.  His high school crush Liza McKnight ends up back in his life along with a part of his past that he wishes he could forget.  He comes to Liza's aid and after spending time with her, his old feelings about her resurface.  She's had her eye on Dare as well and soon realizes that there is much more to Dare than the boy she once knew in high school. 

Dare has been holding onto a lot of baggage from his past.  After all that has been revealed over the last 2 books and this one, I found Dare to be the strongest out of the brothers.  I don't mean physical strength at all, although now that I think of it I would love to see the 3 of them in a contest of some sorts, I mean strength of the soul.  He's always been the easiest going on of the bunch and doesn't let any internal turmoil show.  He keeps it all inside since he doesn't want to put his burden on anyone else.  Eventually it builds up to the point where he feels as if he's going to explode, but he's not alone and Liza is there for him when he needs her.

I'm giving Karma a rating of: 

I had been waiting for Dare's story since reading book 1 and I loved learning more about him. It was great seeing him get what he deserves and loved how the whole story arc of the 3 brothers being able to heal together was brought to a conclusion. They were able to finally realize just how important they are to one another and that they can rely on each other when needed. Now with the addition of the women that they love, they now feel complete and their family is now whole. I'm looking forward to reading about the other characters in the town of Serendipity and I hope it's not the last that we will see of the Barron brothers.