Fade to Black (Lace Masquerade) - Nanea ... This is the 2nd of 4 short (<30 pgs) mm stories (not sure what the read order should be)... what they make lack in the romance department they more than make up for with the scorching hot sex and the tenderness show to one another. Well worth the read!

Fade to Black, Awake in the Dark #1 by Tim McBain & L.T. Vargas published by Smarmy Press is a funny, thought provoking story about Jeff Grobnegger who has strange dreams & some form of seizures.  He has repetitive dreams where he's in an alley being strangled to death.  "Live.  Die.  Repeat."

 

I gave this intriguing book five stars.

 

When he comes to in the supermarket he meets Glenn Floyd.  "I sit up, & he claps me on the shoulder instead of a handshake.  One of those hard shoulder claps usually reserved for awkward encounters between gym teachers & students."

 

This has snarky, but hilarious laugh out loud dialogue.  Simultaneously it holds up many of our fears to the light, especially about loneliness & the deliberate isolation of an introverted personality.

 

"I don't think most people want friends.  They just want people to listen when they talk. They don't want a connection, they want an audience."

 

Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Fade-Black-Awake-Dark-Book-ebook/dp/B00OP0TMQY

This grabbed me from the start and I had difficulty putting it down.  The killer isn't guessed and was a surprise.  I enjoyed 2 strong leads that complemented each other.

I read the sample because one of the authors sent me a DM on twitter:

I'd step on a Lego barefoot to get you to read my book's free sample. Don't make me do it! http://www.amazon.com/Fade-Black-Psychological-Paranomal-Suspense-ebook/dp/B00OP0TMQY/ref=sr_1_20

I was curious enough to have a look, and now I find myself unable to stop. I hate ebooks, I hate KINDLE ebooks even more (because I have to read them on a computer, as my ereader is a Sony), but now I need the rest of the book.

Off to order the physical copy and try and exercise some self restraint with the "one click" button on the Amazon page.

Well played, L.T. Well played.

Stayed up until 5am to finish this one. Pretty damn good! Stacey and Dean are both well-developed characters that are smart, determined, and courageous. I really liked them and had no complaints about either of them.

I know this is listed as a romantic suspense, but the romance really does take an appropriate back seat to solving the horrendous crimes being committed by the Reaper. There's a little bit of posturing, a sex scene, and a HEA, but the meat of this story is the suspense. And boy, was the suspense good! I had considered who the killer was due to a single sentence, but dismissed it pretty quickly. The other suspects seemed a lot more likely. Nope! I guarantee you'll be surprised at the big reveal.

The reason this book wasn't a five star read for me was because of the climax. It wasn't exactly a dud, but after all the build up, it could have been much more explosive and dramatic. I almost feel like the author had had enough of the whole story and just wanted to get it over with.

Basically, this was a really good story. The mystery stays a total mystery, the horror is appropriately horrifying, the romance was sweet and sensual, the characters were three-dimensional and the good guys were actually good people. No TSTL moments. No steadfast and stubborn denial of facts. No over-the-top plot devices. I was totally into it, start to finish and would definitely recommend it.

Side note: It felt like there was something going on between Lily and Wyatt (two supporting characters - a member of Black CATs and the leader of the group). I didn't really like Lily. I thought she was irresponsible and took her job entirely too personally. On a hunch, I checked out the blurbs for the other two books in this trilogy and found out that the Lily/Wyatt storyline continues in the background of the next book, then is the main focus of the third book. Unfortunately, I am sooo not interested in how Lily almost gets herself killed by being irresponsible and taking her job entirely too personally. I wish the subsequent stories focused on Brandon (another Black CAT computer nerd) and maybe Wyatt with anyone but Lily. *sigh* Oh well, at least I got one damn good story out of this trilogy!