Cold Hearted was another great book by Beverly Barton. It was very suspenseful, and although I had a good idea of the identity of the villain, Barton kept me wondering and doubting until almost the end. The book had a great storyline, and I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters. The book was much heavier on the suspense than on the romantic aspect. The only deficiency in the book was in the romance. I felt that the resolution was too rushed in the end and seemed forced and lacking. Overall, this was a great book, I just would have liked the last page or two of intereaction between the hero and heroine before the epilogue to have been handled a bit differently.
Jordan Price's husband has just committed suicide, and the day of the funeral she finds that his brother believes the death was actually a murder. Ryan Price has called in the Griffith Powell Agency with the intent of asking them to look into his brother's death. Jordan is stunned, but readily agrees and joins with Ryan in hiring Griff's company. Rick Carson is the lead agent assigned to the case, and as he watches Jordan the day of the funeral, he is disturbed by her lack of apparent emotion. He almost immediately begins to believe that she is behind the death of her husband, but his strong attraction to her causes him to hope that she is innocent. When Rick observes Jordan's strong attachment to her deceased husband's assistant, he believes that he has found some motive for the murder. More incriminating evidence comes to light when Rick discovers that Jordan has now been widowed twice - and she also lost a fiance to death. As the investigation continues, it doesn't seem possible that coincidence could be involved when so many men close to Jordan have died. Not only her two husbands and fiance, but her father, an employer, and a man she dated have all died in circumstances which benefited Jordan financially or in some other way. Jordan has a large extended family that she takes care of, and they are all completely loyal to her. None of them believe she could possibly be guilty of anything. As Rick's attraction and feelings for Jordan grow, he tries to be objective as he wades through the evidence against Jordan. Rick doesn't know whether he is falling for a sweet, vulnerable lady who needs tender care or a black widow who may have targeted him as her next victim.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was engrossing and fast paced. The supsense aspect of the book was wonderfully done. While there was finally an HEA, I felt a bit unsatisfied with the manner in which the romance was handled. I didn't mind that the hero had doubts about the heroine through much of the book - he had just met her - but as the mystery was solved, I didn't like the direction in which the romance went. There was a very brief resolution in the epilogue but I found it wanting, and was left a bit unsatisfied. With the way the romance was left before the epilogue, I needed more interaction between the hero and heroine than the half page that was given to it in the epilogue. This would have definitely been a five star book if a bit more attention had been given to the romance. All in all, a wonderul suspense with great characters.