I’m going to be honest here and say that I’m not a major fan of police procedural type books, movies or tv but I’ll always make an exception when several someones tell me I need to pay attention to something and that’s why I decided to read Whispers In The Dark. People on my Twitter feed would not shut up about it and now that I’ve read it I can understand the positive buzz.

Rose is a sniper with a painful past and when the book begins she is in a standoff with an irrational man. The scene is intense and shows Rose is calm, cool and knows what she’s doing but this event is more than it seems. Rose is also more than she seems and soon after finds herself and her family embroiled in a battle for their lives. The stakes are high and the revelations are chilling. You’ll have to read the book to discover them though because I am not a spoiler of books.

The best thing about this story, besides the history and the creep-factor and the ever-lurking dread, were the characters and their very complicated relationships with each other. They’re flawed, realistic, relatable - all of those things, and I really enjoyed reading their stories and reactions to events. Life is often messy, imperfect, frustrating, and disappointing and this book felt real to me because of the character’s interactions with each other and the realism and emotion written into the scenes. I still find it difficult to believe this novel was a debut. That sort of blows my mind.

I’m glad I listened to my horror people and gave this book a chance. I can easily recommend it to anyone looking to escape reality for a while and fall into a tension-filled novel with unforgettable characters.

I am on such an adult romance kick right now and I'm a bit obsessed with the KGI series by Maya Banks. They are all so much fun and a quick read. Definitely not something that's necessarily a "well written" read but I so enjoy it for what it is, trashy romance. 

Nathan is trapped in a cave being tortured by enemies. The Kelly brothers have been looking for him but to no avail. Nathan finally thinks he's gone crazy when he starts hearing a voice, Shea's voice. But when she saves his life and he's back with his brothers again he know's he has to find her and save her from whoever is after her and her sister. 

Mhmmm...I love the Kelly brothers. I do like some more than others. And Nathan is one of my favorites. There wasn't really anything to dislike about this book. Its fast paced, has some paranormal fun, romance and a hot protective brotherly family. What's not to love?

Basically the perfect Intrigue romsus. I really like almost everything Debra Webb writes. There's one passage I particularly like,where the detective hired by Natalie tells her about his secret past that cost him a career in law, and her response is perfect and non-judgemental:

“So you worked your way through school,” Natalie offered. “There’s no shame in hard work. College is expensive. Law school is even more costly.”
She couldn’t hide the automatic guilt she clearly felt for growing up rich when she heard stories like his. No matter, when she heard the rest that guilt would shift into outrage and disgust. What the hell?
“I worked as an escort.” He figured she would comprehend the full implications of the statement without him going into graphic detail.
She sipped her tea, cleared her throat and took a breath. “Do you mean—?”
“I mean exactly what you think I mean. The Alabama State Bar used its morals clause to preclude my admission to the bar based on my character and that was that.”
“You did this for...?”
If she blinked too hard the frozen expression on her face would no doubt shatter. Clint almost laughed. He was a damned good investigator. Whether he’d delivered pizza or pleasure during college should be of no consequence to the job he had to do now. “Five years.”
The duration of his early career startled her and the dainty cup almost slipped from her slim fingers. “I see.”
No. She didn’t see at all. There were other things he could tell her, like the fact that he earned more in his first year than the average attorney did in his first four. He’d had a high-end operation, not a street corner. His clients had been the rich and famous of Alabama. By the time he hit law school he had invested widely and wisely. He could retire now, if he chose, on the investments he’d made. None of that would matter. He saw the horror and disbelief in her eyes.
He stood, fury and frustration beating in his pulse, and buttoned his jacket. “You have my number. Let me know if you still require my services. If not, I’ll ask the boss to send someone else.”
“Sit down, Clint.”
Whatever hesitation she’d felt before, there was none in her blue eyes now. He, on the other hand, hesitated. He wasn’t apologizing for his past.
“Please,” she added.
He ripped the jacket button loose once more and sat. His boss, he still had to work at reminding himself not to call Jess chief, would be the first one to say he didn’t care for taking orders. He preferred giving them. That said, he wanted this new venture to work out for all concerned—including the lady staring at him right now. Whether she realized it or not, she needed him.
“I don’t care what you did to survive in college. We all did things we might not have done at any other time in our lives.” She smiled. “Kudos to you. Law school was tough as hell and still you made it. The State Bar’s decision was unfair and antiquated in my opinion. If you ever decide to fight that decision, I would be more than happy to represent you.”

There is so much crap floating around about sex work, and this was refreshing.

Here's the blurb:

A chilling new spin-off series from USA TODAY bestselling author Debra Webb sure to keep you up all night… 

Former homicide detective Clint Hayes has his first client as a private investigator: a fragile beauty he isn't sure he can trust. An injury has left Natalie Drummond with gaps in her memory, and she sees and hears things that aren't there. But she's sure she shot an intruder in her Birmingham mansion. So where's the body, the gun, the evidence? When it's clear someone is trying to kill his vulnerable client, Clint appoints himself her protector, working overtime not to fall for her. But someone is dead set that Natalie never regains her memories—or makes new ones with Clint.

Natalie has a memory loss because of an accident, and her memories are need to be triggered. Her insecurity about her worth, and Clint's hesitancy to become involved with her because of his past lend a very believable tension in their relationship despite the mutual attraction. 

This one has some paranormal elements to it.  It could be argued that it’s more like ESP than paranormal, since paranormal is vampires and werewolves and there are no vampires or werewolves in this series, but the addition of Shea to the characters (and her sister, Grace, although we haven’t really meet her yet).  

I expected Shea to have some sort of ESP given the gift comments on the back cover.  The telepathy I can handle just fine but the healing seems a little much for a non-paranormal book.  Some suspension of disbelief is required for this one.

That ESP/paranormal issues aside, I really liked this book.  Nathan and Shea work really well together.  This is the first book in this series were the romance doesn’t feel rushed or too slow.  They did know each other before they met, which gets back into the telepathy.  

There are at least two groups after Shea and her sister Grace, one group that’s on her side (I’m not including the KGI in this list), but she doesn’t know it and another group that we don’t really know yet.  The group that’s on her side includes a big surprise that I wasn’t expecting (for once).

Whispers in the Dark -- Maya Banks

Book 4 of KGI series

2012 Release -- Berkeley Sensation

Adult, Romantic Suspense, Paranormal, Military, Erotica

Maya Banks' fourth installment of the KGI series, Whispers in the Dark, was one of the better of the series' books so far, suspense-wise. It was definitely a page-turner and kept me hooked right from the start. I hadn't been expecting a paranormal twist in this romantic suspense series, but it made for an interesting concept and allowed as a pretty good plot device to propel the book with.


The Story:
Picking up from the previous book, Hidden Away, Nathan Kelly, youngest of the big Kelly family, has been MIA. We learn that he's been held captive somewhere in Afghanistan and has been beaten and tortured regularly. As his resolve starts to slip and death seems like the best solution to his current captivity and torment, his feels of despair somehow reach out to telepath, Shea Peterson and the two begin their strange, psychic bond.

Shea and her sister, Grace, are on the run because of what they are: psychics. Grace, specifically because she also has the ability to heal others, but at a cost to herself. Because they face an unknown enemy, Shea had decided it would be smarter for them to split up--she has vowed to keep Grace safe and so cuts off all communication with her sister. If she doesn't know where Grace is, she can't give up her sister's location to the bad guys.

When Shea senses that Nathan is coming close to giving up hope for his survival, she reaches out to him, hoping both to comfort him and help him. She talks to him and encourages him to stay strong, she warms his spirit and takes away his feelings of pain and despair, and she pleads with him to help her help him be thinking about where he might be held captive so that she can get the information to someone who can save him.

And when Nathan is safe and sound, back with his family, it's his turn to seek Shea out and help save her and her sister; to find out who's after them and help them stop running from their faceless enemies and keep them safe.


My Thoughts:
A lot goes on in this book, though with the fast-pacing of events, it's easy to quickly move from one scene to another without dwelling. Whispers in the Dark was very enjoyable and exciting. The beginning was strong with an immediate hook and introduced the premise in an "In Your Face" kind of way that you can't argue with; there is no room for doubting the sudden paranormal twist you hadn't been expecting. And despite some of the tacky dialogue and some of the questionable decisions that Shea makes and some of the reveals and turn of events that gave me slight pause, the entire ordeal is fairly believable in the whole KGI world.

The latter half of the story line is what starts getting a little out of control and ridiculous as each new secret is revealed... but on some levels, it's not like the reveals are completely implausible, and, on some levels, we were sort of expecting some kind of Big Government Conspiracy anyway, right? (I mean, two sisters who are psychic are on the run from some unknown entity who had killed their parents and who are able to keep finding them no matter where they go? That's a type of story line that smacks of Big Government Conspiracy!)

So things still managed to fall into place somehow as the conclusion rounds the corner; and I suspect that the next book will finish up this paranormal chapter of the KGI series with Grace's turn in the main character slot.

The romance was strong and sweet; Nathan Kelly and Shea Peterson have pretty good chemistry and a pretty decent love story to tell. But I can't help but to be a bit conflicted about the "insta-eternal-love" scenario that surfaces due to the whole psychic spin we set into KGI's world for this book--the fact that Shea and Nathan forged a fated bond the first time they connect at the beginning of the book was a good way to try to steer clear of the whole insta-love possibilities, but it sort of... didn't.

Of course, it certainly DOES take away a lot of the standard romantic angst scenarios that could have occurred--since the two of them already know they're going to be together forever, there's no reason for them to fight the inevitable or ask those "Does he/she really love me?" questions. I mean, they can practically read each other's minds and feel each other's rawest emotions. So at least that helps to build on the romantic foundation of the Nathan/Shea love story--of which I'm not so much complaining about, but simply giving some pause on some of my conflicting opinions.

As per usual, the characters are full of heart and wonderful interactions, which makes up for some of the tacky dialogue and some of the out-of-control story progression in his book. The brothers are all snarky and loving as usual; I kind of miss Rusty's whole "Up yours!" attitude, and she gets little time in this book anyway, so it's not like it's a big deal. Nathan and Shea are great characters as a couple and as individuals and I'm interested to see how Grace's story turns out in the next book.

And all is still well in KGI land.