As far as Christmas packages went, Brandon Thomas was one tall drink of water. And at the moment he was in over his too-handsome head. He'd showed up at the Colby offi ces covered in blood and desperate for help unraveling a mystery of murder. Luckily for Brandon, Merri Walters was a determined investigator not about to let an innocent bystander get railroaded—especially so close to Christmas.
With careful coaxing, Merri learned that Brandon unknowingly possessed information high-level people wanted to keep secret. Now, the only challenge was keeping Brandon at arm's length in order to make sure they both stayed alive to see the New Year.
DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 170 novels, including reader favorites the Finley O'Sullivan and Devlin & Falco series. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity. Recently Debra was awarded the distinguished Centennial Award for having achieved publication of her 100th novel.
With more than four million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm. She spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories. She wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the Commanding General of the US Army in Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a five-year stint in NASA’s Shuttle Program that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has expanded her work into some of the darkest places the human psyche dares to go. Visit Debra at www.debrawebb.com.
Brandon's best friend is murdered and Brandon becomes the number one suspect. He goes to the Colby Agency for help. Most everyone has already left for Christmas but new investigator, Merri. Merri decides to help Brandon because she believes in his innocence. Merri is deaf and she hides this from Brandon since she is good at lip-reading. She is out to prove that she is as good and capable of being an investigator as anyone else.
The story was okay, and while I could admire Merri and her determination to prove she could do the job as well as anyone, I thought she let this get in the way of the investigation and the safety of her client. Her choices weren't always the wisest or smartest and lead to unnecessary risks. This caused me not to like her so much. Since the story took place in only a couple of days, the romance wasn't focused on much and Merri and Brandon's love at the end wasn't really convincing.
This one was a little slower getting started for me. Merri is a new investigator for the Colby Agency and she is in the office a little after everyone else. It's close to Christmas and this gentlemen comes in with flip flops and a blood spattered shirt telling her that his roommate, whom he doesn't get along with very well, has been murdered. The police think he is a Person of Interest.
Merri decides to help him with this case and she has a little issue that she has not told the client yet. The fact that she is hearing impaired. Once I got into the book it started to get better and then it was hard to put down.
I judge books I have physically read by how easy it is to keep up with the characters, how entertaining the story is, and whether or not I can put them down.
While I enjoyed the setting (Chicago and surrounding areas) and the characters and their short comings (especially being different than the normal jilted lovers), life kept intruding on my reading during spring-like weather. I enjoy the Colby Agency series in general and have already started another one.
A quick, easy-read mystery from Harlequin. Interesting twists on the hidden vulnerabilities (which seem required in modern romances), but otherwise a pretty prosaic "too pretty to be believed" PI heroine and her hapless client/soon-to-be love interest.
Again, this appears part of a series whose earlier installments I haven't read. Set in Chicago, with private investigators...hmmm. I think I'll stick to Sara Paretsky.
This romantic suspense novella held a lot of intrigue and creative conflicts. An exciting read to find out how the accused and the investigator help one another and create romance.