Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Beyond Her Reach by Melinda Leigh Narrator: Christina Traister
Series: Bree Taggert #10
Published by Brilliance Audio on September 16, 2025
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Length: 9 hours, 30 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
In a quiet suburban neighborhood in upstate New York, single mom Kelly Gibson is slain in her home—the victim of a rage killing. Right away, Sheriff Bree Taggert has three persons of an angry soon-to-be ex-husband, a furtive rebound boyfriend, and an obsessive neighbor.
But as Bree and investigator Matt Flynn work together to narrow the field, there’s a shocking twist in the a second woman is murdered in the same brutal fashion.
While investigating, Bree is attacked and left for dead. When another woman is kidnapped, Bree and Matt must act quickly to unravel the deceptions in Kelly’s life and death and find a killer before someone else dies.
The Bree Taggert series has been a strong hit with me from the beginning, as have most books from this author. I read mostly in ebook but have tried audio more recently. I was excited to find Beyond Her Reach has characters from the Morgan Dane series.
I enjoyed reading as I have every book in this series. I love the characters, the building of a family, the growth of Bree both personally and professionally, the working dogs, the farm animals, and the smart police investigations.
On the police side, a woman is found brutally murdered. She was separated from her husband, just starting to date again. Her children are all off to college, so she is a stay at home mom with all the children out of the nest. So her husband wants a younger model and all the money. Suspects initially include the husband, the new beau, and the enamored neighbor. But then more women are killed.
Bree also has to deal with the political entanglements of a board member to get funding for a new canine unit. This entails all the press conferences. Bree really wants the second canine officer and really needs another deputy. Quite the growth for someone with a lifelong fear of dogs.
Personally, Bree has found a home with her sister’s children, Luke and Kayla, her brother Adam, her partner Matt and his family, and Dana, her old partner from Philly. They have made a comfortable, well working family on the small farm, enjoying their horses, the dogs, the library and Dana’s great cooking. She also learns more about her mother.
I will always be thrilled by another release and more to read in this world.
Narration:
The narrator is the usual one for this series. I was comfortable with her performance even though I sort of had my own voices in my head since I have usually read the ebooks. The narration added to the emotional tone and enhanced my enjoyment. I listened at my newer 1.75x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Melinda Leigh
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh is a fully recovered banker. A life-long lover of books, she started writing as a way to preserve her sanity while raising her kids. Over the next few years, she learned a few things about writing a book. The process was much more fun than analyzing financial statements, and she decided to turn her hobby into a career. Melinda’s debut novel, SHE CAN RUN, was nominated for Best First Novel by the International Thriller Writers. She is a RITA® Award Finalist and has earned three Daphne du Maurier Award nominations, two Silver Falchion Awards, and a Golden Leaf.
Melinda holds a 2nd degree belt in Kenpo Karate. She’s dabbled in Arnis stick fighting, studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and taught women’s self-defense. She lives in a messy house in the suburbs with her husband, two kids, a couple of shelter dogs and two rescue cats who clearly run the show. With such a pleasant life, she has no explanation for the sometimes dark and disturbing nature of her imagination.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 24-COYER
So happy to see your high ratings, Anne💜 I’ll be starting this during the weekend.
I’ve enjoyed this series since the first book. I also enjoy some books which connect with her other characters like Morgan Dane.
It’s great that this series is still going strong at 10 books. She seems like a MC I would like.
I think you could as she is easy to love. She’s confident, caring, compassionate and hard working. She works on herself not just her job to be more supportive of her niece and nephew, to overcome her fear of dogs, etc.
You can really get the feel of just how far Bree, her family, and her sheriff’s dept have come in this one. I cracked up how she end-arounded the gal on the city council. 🙂
yes that was awesome. The council gal had been doing it to her after all.
I love this series, too! And I didn’t know there was this new one. So thanks for the heads up. 😀
It’s awesome as always. Enjoy!
I’m not sure if I’ve listened to this narrator. I have read this author, but not lately. Glad to hear the series is still a winner 10 books in!
Thanks Rachel. It’s a favorite of mine.
This author is on my TBR. All her books look really good and I should try the audio. The fact that this series is still strong at book 10 is a good sign!
I love her earlier series also. But really you could start with any of her series. I think I started with the Morgan Dane series.
Slowly catching up in my commenting 😉
Thanks for reading.