February offers spine-tingling action and toe curling love affairs

I have one month of tracking my books behind me and in that month I read 15 books. I think I am well ahead of my estimate of 100 books in a year. At this rate it will be closer to 200. Who knew!? What have a learned from tracking my reading? First, I really do read a lot. People have teased me about always carrying a book with me, and since they’re right, it amounts to a lot of reading time. Second, if I really love the book I am reading I will only read that one book. If I’m even a little bored, I juggle several books until one catches all my attention. Third, I really do prefer books set in contemporary settings, though within that category I enjoy a variety— mystery, suspense, erotica, funny, dramatic, etc. Fourth, romantic suspense truly is my favorite genre. I love the combination of spine-tingling action and toe curling love affairs with a happy ending. Here are this month’s offerings with some comments on the sneak peeks.

The second book in Kat Martin’s Raines of Wind Canyon series, AGAINST THE FIRE, was a thrilling read. The action gets off to a quick start when a fire damages one Gabriel Raines’ construction project. Subsequent fires suggest that Gabe is being targeted by an arsonist out for revenge. Police suspect Angel Ramirez but Mattie Baker, a volunteer at the Family Abuse center, is out to prove his innocence. Gabe and Mattie will work together to find the truth, putting both of them in jeopardy. I really like the Raines men; they are sexy, tough, and loyal. The trilogy concludes next month the release of Against the Law.

Allison Brennan has a 99 cent novella, LOVE IS MURDER featuring Lucy Kincaid, to bridge the gap between LOVE ME TO DEATH and KISS ME, KILL ME (due out in March). It’s already downloaded to my nook, but I haven’t had the chance to read it yet. We find Lucy, recovering from breakup, on the West Coast skiing with her brother. When one of the guests is murdered, and the guests are trapped by a snowstorm, it’s up to the Kincaids to find the killer.

LOOSE ENDS, book 5 in the Steele Street series by Tara Janzen, features Conroy Farrel, AKA J. T. Chronopolous, a member of the Special Defense Force thought dead who returns with a new identity and no memory. Now his mission is to destroy SDF, but SDF has other plans. When Jane Linden accidentally finds herself in the middle of this battle between former friends, can she help this man she used to know but who no longer knows her?

MERCILESS is the second in a new series of romantic suspense novels by Mary Burton. When bleached human bones are identified as belonging to a former patient of Dr. James Dixon, Detective Malcolm Kier suspects the worst. Dixon was recently acquitted of attempted murder, thanks to defense attorney Angie Carlson. But as the body count rises, Kier is convinced that Angie is now the target of a brutal, brilliant psychopath.

In MIDNIGHT CALLER, by Leslie Tentler, late-night radio show psychologist Rain Sommers finds herself the target of a listener obsessed with her and her mother’s murder. Her mother, a singer and icon of the Goth community, may have been a victim of a serial killer known as the Vampire. FBI agent Trevor Rivette is convinced her obsessed listener and the killer are the same person.

DEADLY HEAT, book 2 in Cynthia Eden’s Deadly series, begins as a story of revenge as Lora Spade seeks the arsonist who killed her lover. When she rescues Special Agent Kenton from a violent inferno, they feel an instant attraction. He wants to protect her, and the best way to do that is solve the case. Can he do that without placing her in further danger?

DANGEROUS SECRETS, by Katie Reus, features Isabelle Ballantine, finally out from under her father's shadow, living on her own, working in a bar, and keeping her true identity a secret. Adam Marcellus comes to work at the bar after agreeing to help Izzy's eccentric father convince his daughter to move home. When a deranged stalker targets her, Adam finds himself fighting not only an unknown threat-but an unexpected attraction to the one woman he can't have.

Do you track what your read? How much do you read? What are your reading habits?

Happy reading!
Maria