Sheriff Mike Birkett had done his best to forget Lorie and since her return has ignored her. He’d married, had children. Now a widow, he’s allowed the loathing he feels for Lorie to keep her firmly out of reach. But when Lorie starts receiving death threats, the line he’d drawn between them dulls considerably. After all, it’s his sworn duty to protect residents of his town.

What I found particularly refreshing about Dead by Midnight is that Lorie had left the man she loved to follow her dream of acting in Hollywood. It didn’t work out, moving back home took a lot of fortitude. Mike at the beginning of this novel is judgmental and assumes much. The more time he spends with Lorie in his need to protect, the more feelings for her run a gamut culminating in the realization that regardless of the past, he still wants her.

Both the hero and heroine are flawed, making this a volatile and interesting mix. The author hasn’t shied away from undesirable circumstances but worked them into the story, which I found refreshing. As the body count rises, the author skillfully keeps track of the FBI, Special Investigators and the local police as they race to find the killer. All the while adding continuity from previous novels and hinting at maybe future books.

Dead By Midnight is a first rate, riveting, thrilling suspense. Its pace, intrigue and genuine characters kept those pages turning. However, I immersed myself in to the story, drawn in trying to guess the killer. I found myself on more than one occasion talking to my computer screen as if the characters could hear me, receiving odd looks from my family.

This is romantic suspense at its best and it comes highly rated. It's the first in a new trilogy and linked to previous books featuring the Powell Private Security and Investigation Agency. I see my 'to buy list' growing every larger.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Very sensual

Reviewer: Abi
April 22, 2010