I cannot say enough good things about Norah Wilson, Author. We have had a few reviewers read her submissions and write wonderful reviews for her books. I have been secretly reading them as well on my own, just for me. I decided for this submission, I wanted to finish off 2012 with reading and reviewing one as well; and I think I was certainly a winner. Every Breath She Takes is one of the most exciting romance stories/thrillers/mysteries I have read all year! And with how much I read, that is saying a lot!
Lauren Townsend is a Veterinarian. She has a small practice and lives alone with her two dogs. From what we learn, Lauren has always been a loner, has made herself so, because of what she is. Lauren sees visions that come true.
It began when she was a young girl and the trauma that affected her life because of it, as she called it ‘her freakishness’, becoming more and more aloof. During college she finally met a young man Garret, they fell in love and he asked her to marry him. It all fell apart when she shared her ‘other’ with him. Hence, the empty life and the two dogs.
Lauren has been having this new vision for a while now. Today she leaves work pretending a migraine and gets home just in time to have the tingly feeling take over. She is ‘seeing’ the murder of this pretty woman through the eyes of the killer. It is very disconcerting to watch a man's arms strangling the life out of the woman in front of her, but this last time she forces herself to try and remember the scenery. As she is in this trance like state, the killer reaches for a cigarette and she sees the matchbook cover that reads Foot Hills Guest Ranch. Lauren Googles the ranch and it is on the other side of the country, but she decides she can take a few weeks off to save a life—if she can.
We meet the owner of the ranch, Cal Taggert. He is an ex Rodeo star, a bull rider. He was used to have all the buckle bunnies at his beck and call for sex whenever he wanted, and then he got married to the beautiful and sexy head of the bunnies, Marlena. Now divorced and up to his ears in problems, he needs nothing complicated. This is a meeting of two so very different people, from two very different worlds becoming unlikely lovers, thrown into a whirlwind of lust, murder and mystery and might even end up with the L word.
Okay, Ms Wilson sure knows how to write ‘em. A sexy, handsome cowboy with baggage too much to count. A fashionista, a doctor from the city who can ride and give as much as she gets. The two are like moths to a flame, once the spark ignites they cannot stay away from each other. The other players are paraded for us to meet, ‘their baggage’ is opened one piece at a time as we learn about Lauren and Cal as they learn about each other. We follow the wonderful twists and turns of the mystery as the author drops crumbs for us, and we hope the killer can be thwarted. The scenery is outstanding, as this author gives us the pink sunsets and beautiful rolling hills and majestic mountain views…I was there, I felt it, I rode horses and ate wonderful meals in the dining room. The pictures were so vivid!
Lauren and Cal started the relationship as a fling, and each one is afraid to say it now was more. Will Lauren be afraid to bare her secret? Will Cal admit he needs her? Will they together stop the killer? Oh Norah what you have wrought? I as one reviewer can answer that…The book is sexy, full of suspense, thrilling, horrifying, and utterly spellbinding. A must read !!!
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Sr Reviewer and Review Chair for the Paranormal Romance Guild