Premeditated Marriage is cursed with one of the worst titles I’ve ever seen and blessed with one of my favorite covers of the year. The title is silly and not even close to being accurate for this story. Ah, but the cover…. An isolated gas station in the middle of nowhere. Ominous clouds teem in the background, tinted green from the station’s fluorescent lights. A man and woman face each other, a clear distance between them. The image has a lonely, menacing feel. For once, a cover captures the mood of the story contained within.

True crime writer Augustus Riley has made his living writing about murderous women. When an old friend turns up dead in Utopia, Montana, Gus heads to the remote town determined to find out what happened. His only lead is a man named Charlie Larkin, who his friend had contacted before he disappeared. Gus fakes a car problem to force an encounter with Larkin, who operates Utopia’s sole gas station. But the attendant isn’t the man he expected to find.

Charlotte “Charlie” Larkin knows immediately that the stranger tampered with his own car. She doesn’t know what game he’s playing, but she knows enough to be wary. People in town have looked at her a little differently ever since her high school boyfriend died under mysterious circumstances years ago. Since then, tragedies have befallen a number of other men she’s dated. Some people are convinced she’s a killer. Then Gus comes to town, determined to prove just that. She knows she shouldn’t trust him, but maybe he’s the only person she can trust.

There is much to recommend about Premeditated Marriage. It’s set in Montana – but not on a ranch – and the hero is neither a sheriff nor a cowboy. The story has a good sense of place, as Daniels captures the feel of a small town far off the beaten path, slowly dying as each generation moves away. Charlie is a capable mechanic, with a good sense of self and feels no particular need to be more blatantly feminine than she is. It was nice to read about a heroine who was comfortable with herself in that respect. She’s appealingly strong, yet vulnerable.

One aspect that really worked was the pacing, which somehow managed to be leisurely but never slow. There’s quite a bit of plot and plenty of characters, yet it’s not what I would call action-packed. A good example is the opening. Rather than immediately throwing her characters into a dangerous situation from the start, Daniels takes the time to set the mood as Gus drives into town in the middle of the night and meets Charlie, who immediately catches him off guard several times in their first few minutes together. There’s a good balance between the mystery plot and the characters. As for the title, it is probably meant to indicate that Gus starts to act interested in Charlie for a brief period to see if this makes him a target. It’s such a brief plot element it hardly seems worth Harlequin naming the book after it, particularly for a story so thankfully free of the usual series romance gimmicks.

Premeditated Marriage does fall somewhat short in the end, partly because Gus’s “she’s guilty… no, she’s not… but she could be… no, she can’t be” doubts last too long for the romance to really work. And while the author dodges the most obvious ending to the mystery, the one she provides isn’t as fulfilling as it could have been. That said, Daniels’ book is still worth a look for an appealingly different and atmospheric romantic suspense.