Series:
Browning Sisters (Book 3)
ONE TOUCH WAS ALL IT TOOK FOR THE GORGEOUS STRANGER TO PENETRATE HIS SOUL.
He was a hardened former Marine with a guarded past...until one touch
from Iris Browning became his undoing. Thanks to the raven-haired
beauty, reclusive millionaire Maddox Heller found himself back in the
line of fire, chasing down an elusive killer who'd made Iris his next
target. She claimed not to know why, and every instinct told Maddox to
believe her. Still, trusting this virtual stranger seemed risky,
especially as their relationship grew increasingly personal. Now, as
ghosts from the past threatened to destroy the present, would one
forbidden touch bring pleasure...or pain?
Very good conclusion to the Browning Sisters trilogy. Iris has arrived on the island to meet a friend, only to find that the friend signed them up for a conference about paranormal abilities and is now missing. While searching for her friend Iris meets Maddox who calls himself a beach bum but seems to have appointed himself her protector. Someone is after Iris and she doesn't know why.
I really liked both Iris and Maddox. Iris is a healing empath who is suffering from a bit of burnout. Every time she takes on someone's pain it exhausts her and it is taking her longer to recover. She's hoping that some time away will give her a break. Discovering that her friend is missing just adds to her worries. She meets Maddox when she asks him if he's seen her friend. She moves on when he hasn't but he worries about the way she looks and follows just in time to catch her when she collapses. She hesitates to accept his offered help, especially when she senses a darkness from him, but she also feels she can trust him. As they work together their attraction only grows stronger. Iris begins to feel more of Maddox's emotional pain and wants to help him, but he resists. When she finds out what is going on at the conference she insists on helping feeling a need to do something to stop what is happening. I really liked her attitude of wanting to help even though Maddox was telling her to leave. She had an amazing amount of strength of will to be able to do what she does even though she is also afraid. I loved the way she brought people together at the end to save the day.
Maddox is still recovering from things that happened in his past. He has terribly guilty feelings which prevent him from letting anyone else depend on him. When he meets Iris there is something about her that he just can't stay away from. I loved the way that he used his connections to help her find out what happened to her friend. He was also there to help her when she was attacked and insisted on continuing to protect her. He doesn't understand the "hoodoo" that she does but can't deny that it exists. The more time he spends with Iris the more he comes to care for her, but he feels that the things in his past make it impossible for him to have any kind of relationship. When parts of that past show up on the island he has to face them to get the future that's waiting for him.
Series:
Browning Sisters (Book 2)
Hot-shot criminal profiler Daniel Hartman was
looking for a man called Orion. Leading a manhunt through Birmingham for
the killer, Daniel was trying to put old ghosts to rest. But this time
Orion's target was Rose Browning, a matchmaking wedding planner with a
gift for predicting true love.
Tempted by secrets she couldn't reveal,
Daniel insisted on offering some very personal protection. He would get
her to open up, but at a price. Would he be able to safeguard this
raven-haired beauty before his desires for revenge became an obsession?
Very good book. Rose moved to Birmingham to escape the memories in her hometown. For a long time her gift enabled her to match up soulmates. Then one of her best matches ended in tragedy and she lost confidence in her ability. Now instead of seeing love matches she's seeing death on young women's faces. When she takes it upon herself to try to find the killer she meets Daniel who is trying to do the same thing. He goes at it from a scientific and logical viewpoint and doesn't believe in her "death veils". But he also can't deny that there is something going on there.
I liked both Rose and Daniel. Rose is feeling lost without the ability she had for so long. Add in the fear that she is feeling after seeing the deaths of several women and she feels the need to try to find the killer. She meets Daniel when he is doing the same thing. She tries to explain what she sees but he doesn't believe her and wonders if she is mentally ill. In spite of his disbelief she feels safe when he is with her. Even through that disbelief she was attracted to him. That soon grew to be even stronger as they worked together to find the killer. Without her old ability to see the true love veils she wasn't sure she could trust what she felt. I liked the way that she tried several ways to get women she knew to be safe and wouldn't give up.
Daniel had been chasing this killer for thirteen years, ever since his fiancee was murdered. This is the closest he's ever gotten and he doesn't want anything messing it up. He thinks Rose is a pretty flake and doesn't believe her story about death veils. But the more time he spends with her the more he is drawn to her. When she becomes a target he is determined to keep her safe. I really enjoyed the way he checked into her past and how it led him to talk to McBride, her sister's husband (Forbidden Territory). I loved the conversation between those two. Daniel had a hard time believing in her abilities but he couldn't deny the feelings that were growing between them.
I had my suspicions about the killer, but there was a point where I began to doubt myself. There was an interesting twist concerning the killer that I hadn't expected. I did enjoy Daniel's moment of awakening and belief.
Series:
Browning Sisters (Book 1)
WALKING AWAY WASN'T AN OPTION
"Help me!" For Lily Browning, there was no escaping the visions that had
haunted her all her life. And now a little girl's desperate cry for
help had brought enigmatic, disturbingly masculine Lieutenant McBride to
her door....
McBride didn't have time for psychics. He had a kidnapper to catch. But
the honey-haired woman with the golden eyes seemed to see things no one
else could -- including his own tragic secret. With a child's life at
stake, he had to trust Lily...even as each step plunged them deeper into
danger and into the uncharted territory of irresistible desire....
Very good book that had me hooked from the first page. Lily has had visions all her life, usually of missing children. Now she's receiving cries for help from a little girl who has gone missing after her mother was murdered. One of the officers investigating is McBride. He has no trust in psychics having had a bad experience with one in his own tragic past. He can't deny that she seems to know things no one else does, but is she for real or is she part of the problem?
Lily hates the "gift" of having the visions that she does. All they seem to bring her is pain. But she can't walk away from the little girl she sees in her mind, even if that means dealing with Lieutenant McBride. She can sense a darkness and a lot of pain from him, but also a more personal connection. The chemistry between them is intense. As Lily's visions continue she feels that they are getting closer to finding Abby, but McBride is still fighting the idea that Lily sees what she say she sees. She is also confused by the presence of another little girl in her visions. I loved Lily's confidence in her visions and how she's determined to follow through on them. I also enjoyed the way that she stood up to McBride when she needed to. She had a great capacity for love which showed even as she used her visions to help both Abby and the other little girl Casey.
McBride is a rather bitter and pessimistic man. After his own daughter was kidnapped and never found he has lost himself in his work. His gut feeling on hearing of Abby's kidnapping is that she is already dead. I really ached for his unhappiness. His initial reaction to Lily was mistrust especially concerning her visions. He considers all psychics to be fakes out for money or attention. But things with Lily don't add up that way. Plus his attraction to her really confuses him. I loved seeing the way that Lily's confidence slowly works on his disbelief.
The intensity of this story was fantastic. The descriptions of Lily's visions made me feel like I was right there with her. There were places that I couldn't read fast enough to find out what was going to happen next. I loved the twist at the end with the second little girl.
