Narrated by Emily Beresford

Katherine Cole fled Boston three years ago following the discovery that her then-fiancé, Michael O’Rourke, was the Valentine’s Killer. She walked in on him with the body of his latest victim. Michael, or Valentine as she thinks of him, disappeared. Now in New Orleans, she knows Valentine has found her when the body of a reporter is discovered with a distinctive number of knife wounds on her arms, stabbed in the heart, and clutching a red rose. She goes to the police to tell them what she knows and meets Detective Dane Black. We know Dane is our hero because a) his name is Dane and b) his is the only touch Katherine can bear in the three years since she discovered she was sleeping with a serial killer. Dane and Katherine fall almost instantly in love and they, together with various other members of the NOPD, try and track down Valentine and move into their HEA.

I had some concerns about the descriptions of some of the police procedures, which seemed to serve the plot but I’m not sure were grounded in reality. I’m finding, as I’m getting older, that the world building in romantic suspense is becoming more and more problematic for me. Because it is set in our world, it needs to conform to our rules and when it doesn’t, I don’t buy the argument. Perhaps it’s my (kind of) legal background and I may be more sensitive to these things than others. There were some plot holes too, which caused the occasional eye roll and, while I’m not an expert, I don’t think the Witness Protection Program is used in the manner the book suggests (at least, I hope not).

The narration was very strong. I have the feeling I’ve heard Emily Beresford narrate before under a different name, but I could be wrong on that. The male voices were (mostly) well done (occasionally, there was some gender-slippage) and the accents were, I felt, authentic (although, Dane did sound kind of slow). The female characterizations were also varied, which I always enjoy. The killer is certainly twisted and Ms. Beresford injects some chilling sociopathy into her depiction of him.

Ms. Beresford did a good job with average material. The story was only okay for me – a kind of run-of-the-mill and over the top romantic suspense, but it was elevated somewhat by the narration.

Breakdown of Grade – Narration B and Book Content C-