Innocent Prey

by Maggie Shayne
Book 3 of Brown and de Luca

About halfway through the book, I sent my BFF a recommendation for this Brown and de Luca series telling her that she really needed to start reading these books.  I think they would be right up her alley with a nice balance of crime thriller to romance, and not too much explicit sex (which would be much more to her liking than any of the other more racy romantic suspense books I've recommended in the past).  There's the blind bulldog, Myrtle, and a lot of family interaction between Rachel, Mason, and the teenagers.

Actually, there are no explicit sex scenes whatsoever in these books, which really dampens the heat level of the book in my personal opinion, but it doesn't usually stop the chemistry between our main couple from being good.  I mean, I don't need sex scenes in my romances to make them good romances, but the relationship between Rachel and Mason so far has been based on some invisible bond the two share that I'm not entirely feeling.  It shows that they work well together, and they banter like the best couple in the world.  We don't really get the explicit sex scenes, but the two talk about screwing like bunnies a lot throughout the book.

But there's still something about their romance that seems to be missing a little bit of sizzle.

And no, I don't mean that the books need sex to spice up the sizzle of the main couple's romance.  I've read plenty of other books where the couple convey a great deal of chemistry without sex sprinkled into the mix.  Heck, I've watched a lot of television series and movies where the couple are completely chaste and still seem to exhibit more chemistry than Rachel and Mason have been projecting since the first book.

I just feel like they're missing something.

But that's beside the point, because I really just LOVE this series for so many other reasons outside of the slightly lukewarm romance.  And I say slightly lukewarm if only because I can see where their romance is a great development.  Rachel and Mason make a great couple!  They're an excellent partnership.  They ARE having sex all the time, and they act so naturally around each other that its wonderful!  Again, I'm just not really feeling the sizzle.

But aside from that and some of the cheesy dialogue at the end of the book (as well as a few little quibbles here and there), this book was damn near perfect.  Okay, maybe it wasn't damn near perfect; I still don't like the switching POV narrations.  But I loved the book and I love how the series is developing from Rachel's connection to other organ donor recipients... to something much bigger and badder.

Her self-named "NFP" powers, the acronyms for "Not Fucking Psychic" powers (**snort**), are taking an interesting direction, and somehow managing to convince me of the connection from other stuff introduced since the first book.  And I'm buying it!

I love that the scope of these books are expanding into other potential directions and possibilities.  I love that we get to continue seeing Rachel's character developing with each book.  She has so far gone from a cynic--even about her own self-help books--to a "maybe I'm starting to believe the bullshit I dish out" type of attitude.  And it's great, because even with that, she still maintains her crass personality, the consistent cussing, and an underlying innocence that probably could only be okay on a thirty-something because of her reborn eyesight.

I enjoyed the premise of the main conflict in this particular book as well, and much more so than the first book; although the second book has a much more intriguing criminal mystery.

As per usual, all the characters are great, even with the introduction of new characters, and more book time by recurring characters.

And then there's the snark and the awesome that is Rachel de Luca.  I mean, sure, she goes a little overboard in her mind meanderings throughout the narration sometimes, but I've come to expect it and I love her all the same.  Myrtle is awesome!  The kids are cute.  Mason could use a little more tweaking because he's coming off as Mr. Perfect with the proper romance novel hero flaws--he had so much more depth to his personality throughout the first two books, and he kind of fades into the background in this one.

And I also miss Amy, Rachel's assistant who doesn't really make an appearance at all in this third book.


But mainly, I just loved reading this.  A lot.


***

2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• COYER Summer Vacation 2016 -- Bingo Board Three | Square C1 -- Paranormal
• Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge

 

 

‘His powers of perception were as good as mine used to be. My skills, however, had apparently been bitten by a radioactive spider.’

 

Where has Brown and de Luca been all my life? After reading this, I have a feeling Maggie Shayne is going to become one of my go-to authors the way Molly Harper, H.P. Mallory, and Darynda Jones are, thanks to their quirky characters and comical situations.

 

Rachel de Luca and Mason Brown are definitely one of my new favorite book couples. For some reason I love the way they tap dance around defining their relationship.

 

Read More

3.5 star read

Rachel de Luca and Mason Brown are back and in prime form in Innocent Prey. Mason is asked to look into the disappearance of a judge's blind daughter, Stevie, and keep it off-the-record. Mason enlists Rachel's assistance on the case because she adds a little something extra with her NFP (not-f***ing-psychic) abilities. The more they dig into Stevie's disappearance, the more they feel this is an abduction that has possible ties to the abduction last year of Rachel's assistant. Before they know it, this case isn't just the abduction of one young girl but of nine girls and all ties lead back to the judge.

Innocent Prey is the third installment in the de Luca and Brown series by Maggie Shayne. Rachel is in a no-holds-barred frame of mind and speaks her mind with no fear of the consequences. She's also finally adapting to the idea that her vision is here to stay. What she isn't adapting to is the possibility that she may have psychic tendencies, such as the ability to read emotions, and gain information from a simple touch. Her refusal to accept these abilities as being from the psychic spectrum gives rise to new nomenclature, NFP. In addition to Rachel's forceful attitude, this story shows the progression of Rachel and Mason's relationship. Both are afraid to use the L-word, but it quickly becomes clear that they do love one another.

I found Innocent Prey to be a fast-paced and enjoyable read. I particularly liked Ms. Shayne's inclusion of pop culture references and Rachel's snarky sense of humor. Innocent Prey is a great addition to the de Luca and Brown series and combines romance, suspense, the paranormal, humor, and family drama into one great story. If you haven't read any of the books in this series, you'll definitely want to read them all: Sleep With the Lights On (Brown and de Luca #1), Dream of Danger (Brown and de Luca #1.5), and Wake to Darkness (Brown and de Luca #2). I've enjoyed reading this series and I'm looking forward to Deadly Obsession (Brown and de Luca #4) scheduled for release later this year.

Innocent Prey - Maggie Shayne
Series: Brown and DeLuca #3
Published by: Harlequin MIRA, on 30 September 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary,Romance, Suspense
Pages: 320, Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
 

To save innocent lives, they'll have to risk their own.

Self-help superstar Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown have finally given in to their overwhelming attraction to each other, but neither of them is ready to let physical passion turn into full-blown romance, so they carefully maintain an emotional distance. Then a judge's daughter disappears, and Mason has a terrible sense that it's connected to the most recent case they solved together: the abduction of Rachel's assistant.

The discovery of a string of missing women—all young, all troubled—seems like a promising lead. But there's no clear connection between the missing girls and the high-profile young woman Mason is trying to find. He realizes that once again he'll have to rely on his own well-honed instincts and Rachel's uncanny capacity to see through people's lies in order to catch a predator and rescue his captives. But can they do it before Rachel becomes his next victim?

 

Another exciting, fast-paced and awesome installment in the Brown and DeLuca series – with a very nice side-dish of romance.

 

My Innocent Prey review:

WOW, let me just gather my thoughts a little bit, because Innocent Prey really took me for quite a ride! Rachel is getting more in tune with both her own self-help philosophy and her inner bitch, and that was a lot of fun to read about. She also managed to get involved in yet another investigation, while also having a little time to hang out with Mason outside of work as well.

 

One of the things I really enjoyed about the mystery in Innocent Prey was the hush-hush around Stevie’s disappearance, plus the fact that Stevie was blind and not coping very well with losing her sight. Rachel dealt with the disappearance very aptly, and she had this feeling from the start that it had something to do with Amy’s kidnapping the year before. Once Mason and Rachel started digging a little, it was obvious that there were a lot more girls missing than they had first thought, and that most were girls who had just aged out of the foster care system, with nobody to miss them once they were gone.

 

The writing was flawless, as usual, in first and third person past tense, and I loved the little clues, the banter between Mason and Rachel, and also the inclusion of a new character in the FBI agent Cantone, and I can’t wait to see if she’ll be important in future Brown and DeLuca stories. Another thing I really enjoyed in Innocent Prey was that Rache was starting to embrace her strange sixth sense, and she truly used it as best she could – even if it could have ended very badly for her.

 

Brown and DeLuca is quickly becoming my favorite romantic suspense series, especially because it also includes a tiny paranormal twist I love. And I really enjoy Rachel’s sense of humor too, it’s a little on the snarky side, which makes my sarcastic self quite happy. If you’re looking for a fast-paced mystery with well fleshed out characters, you should start with Sleep with the Lights On, and just continue from there.

 

Some of my favorite Innocent Prey quotes:

I choked on a sarcastic laugh from my inner bitch, and it sounded like a snort. Higher purpose. Right. Still… I was warming up to the notion that there was a kernel of truth in there somewhere.

 

He was the sexiest man in the universe. I am not exaggerating. I didn’t know why women didn’t swarm him in the streets like adolescents mobbing a Jonas brother. (Yes, that’s a dated reference. I’m over thirty. You’re lucky I didn’t say Hansen.)

 

Myrtle was wiggling her backside in delight, knowing it was him and overjoyed about it. (She’d have wagged her tail, but bulldogs don’t really have tails. So they wag their entire asses, which I think is a much more accurate depiction of extreme enthusiasm. Myrtle agrees.)

 

This could be fun. Right. Fun. Like, you know, jury duty. Or a smallpox outbreak. Or seeing murders in your sleep. Fun.

 

The plot thickens, and I love the references, the humor and both Rachel and Mace!