Romantic suspense books don’t make it very long in my TBR pile. I’m in the mood for one pretty often, and good ones are hard to find – and that adds up to slim pickings on the pile. So when Jane Granville reviewed and recommended the first book in this series I went straight to the store and snatched it up. I read it right away and was so impatient for the sequel I downloaded it that night on my KIndle. So glad I did.

Angie Carlson is a pit bull of a defense attorney and proud of it. She’s not always fond of her clients – heck, she just let a man know in no uncertain terms she would never defend him again because of how slimy she found him – but she was always pleased with her results. That pride and pleasure in her work takes a serious hit, though, when a former victory comes back to haunt her. It seems that Dr. James Dixon is once more on the kill – and all the people associated with his last criminal case will be the first to go. Including the lovely young attorney who got him a not guilty verdict.

Detective Malcolm Kier has been furious at Angie for a good, long while. She helped a guilty man go free and that doesn’t sit too well with this cop. But she is the sister of the woman his partner is in love with, and that means that he finds himself bumping into her waaayyy more than he would like. As he gets to know her he realizes that beneath the barracuda exterior she displays in court is a warm, sexy woman with a love of the outdoors and a heart as big as the ocean. Can he set aside his prejudices against her job and realize she is a needed part of the system? And can he keep her safe from the killer who so clearly appreciates her – but in all the wrong ways?

This book is more suspenseful romance than romantic suspense in that the police work and mystery take center stage with the romance happening subtly around it. That allows for the slower pacing that this love story really needs. Malcolm and Angie are natural enemies, they take opposite sides in the court room and their devotion to their professions has rarely allowed them to see the other guy’s point of view. That means that they have to learn to like each other before even thinking of loving each other, and that takes some doing. As they look beneath the layers though, they realize how much they have in common. Both are nature lovers. Both care deeply for those around them. And their deep, mutual sexual attraction helps, too. Be warned, for part of the book Malcolm is with someone else. Again, because of the pacing, that seems natural. These two don’t rush into a relationship and it seems logical that people they were dating aren’t just flung to the side the minute they meet.

My quibbles with the book (and what kept such a well written romantic suspense novel from being an A ) were two things. Leftover from the last book was the developing relationship with Angie’s half-sister Evie. That took up some page space here, and while it was very interesting and really lent itself toward character building, it cut into the flow of this book’s story. My second (and larger complaint) was with the super villain. I really don’t like super villains, characters so evil they make Satan look tame, and this was no exception. The story line would have been better served with a just plain ordinary bad guy serial killer. I mean, really, isn’t being a multiple murderer with a weird fetish enough anymore?

Still, the solving of this case and the sweet romance within kept this one a page turner. You don’t have to read the first book in this duo, Senseless to read this one, but I strongly recommend it. It gives depth and background to this story. Any fan of romantic suspense should certainly give Ms. Burton’s books a try. These books have impressed me enough that I will be looking for this author’s back list and watching for new releases in the future.