Olivia is finally coming out of mourning and decides she wants to experience everything. Her first outing is a Masquerade where she meets Ian Drake, a spy thinking she is who is to contact him. He soon realizes his error. When they meet later she knows who he is but he has no idea who she is. He figures she is just a snooty aristocrat. When he later learns who she is he is unsure what to do as he still needs to help a French spy who helped the English escape from England.

I liked these characters. Olivia is a total innocent who gets herself involved in things she has no idea exist. Ian does his best to protect her. Because of Olivia's innocence many people are drawn to her. That is fortunate as it helps her at the end. The secondary characters were interesting and eclectic. The story was fun. This is a good read for a lazy afternoon.

Criminal Profiler #2, Part of a series but can be read as a standalone like with most of Mary Burton books.  Burton's writing is engaging and thrilling and always keeps me on my toes, Written in third person the POV goes from protagonist to side characters and switches to first person POV for the antagonist, still keeping the identity of the baddie a secret 'til the end.

FBI Special Agent Zoe Spencer started of life as a dancer but due to an unfortunate accident she had to stop dancing which lead her to art and then to the FBI. Although she is a criminal profiler she also gets pulled onto cases requiring her artist talent and does forensic sketches or sculptures independently from her team. Most recently she was given a charred skull that was discovered by a reporter who was given a tip. A tip from the very person who put the body in there in the first place who was looking for some recognition after all this time.

Discovering who the skull belonged to puts her smack in the middle of the cold case investigation working side by side with her occasional lover Homicide Detective William Vaughn. The more questions they ask the more the killer gets nervous and soon the cold case is hot again with another murder, and another. Working together Vaughn and Zoe try to figure out what happened all those years ago and why the killer started up again, unless he never stopped.

Vaughn and Zoe keep it professional for the most part but soon realize what they have is not casual anymore but Zoe isn't sure she's ready to move on from the death of her husband with someone new someone with the same occupation. This case bring them closer than ever but catching this killer is going to make them both realize something big. Overall it's a really good read it keeps you going from start to finish. Mary Burton is one of my go to authors for romantic suspense and this one did not disappoint.





Originally published on 2012 in an anthology (Silver Bells) and is part of her Richmond Virginia series. It is a standalone novella but the only bad thing about this one is that it feels like it should be part of a full length novel. It feels like it's a follow-up to another story. Photographer and new mom Nicole Piper survived her manipulative and abusive husband but even from the grave he torments her. A letter written to her before his death that explains he wasn't the one who killed her friend but the identity is in a safe deposit box. Along with with Homicide Detective David Ayden, who was there the first time around her husband tormented her and helped safe her life, Nicole goes to find out the truth. David hasn't felt this way about a woman for a while after the death of his wife he never thought he could but now that the case is over he's free to pursue a relationship with her, that's if she's interested. David isn't about to let her go off and handle this on her own who knows what her psychotic, late husband set up for her and Nicole hesitant but accepts his help. Nicole feels the same as David but is afraid of her own judgement even though she's seen proof he's a good person. This Christmas is going to change her life but will it be for better or worse. Overall, despite the feeling like I was missing a whole other story it was a good read. It was intense and it's short enough you can just breeze right through it. 

 

Clan Kendrick #2, This series is a spin-off of Vanessa Kelly's Improper Princesses series which was a spin-off of her Renegade Royals series this can be read as a stand alone, all the pertinent information is given in a way that works as a nice reminder for those of us who have read it. Donella was first introduced in book 4 of the Renegade Royals book, again you don't have to read it in fact if you haven't read it it gives it a bit more mystery.

After the events of her broken engagement three years ago Donella converted to Catholic and joined a convent but now, days away from taking her vows Reverend Mother is kicking her out. Logan trying to gain favor with the Earl of Riddick agrees to escort his grandniece home. Donella was nothing that he expected he was delighted with her sense of humor and her courage especially when faced with an attempted kidnapping and roughing it in the wild to escape. Even after the parted and Donella was safely home with her family Logan couldn't stop thinking about her, even with the surprise of his son showing up in Scotland with his Grandfather Angus when he should still be in Canada. Donella wants to go right back and join another convent but Riddick gets her to agree to wait six months and try to have fun before she makes any decisions. She even agrees to plan a Christmas party for Alec and Eden at their Glasgow townhouse. Eden and Alec send her down first until they can join her in the meantime she is to stay at the Kendrick home bringing her in close proximity to Logan. The threat to Donella hasn't quite gone away they just change tactics and start horrible rumors despite how she is feeling for Logan and his son she feels it best to become a nun. It's Logan's job to convince her otherwise. 

Overall, it was a great read. One thing I love about Vanessa Kelly's writing, not just her great storyline and fantastic characters, she's able to convey the feel of the time period and it's not just all the typical brogue (I'd be disappointed if a book took place in Scotland and didn't have any) but everything in general, celebrating both Christmas and Hogmanay. I enjoyed Logan and Donella story especially what they did at the end. I love all the Kendricks I look forward to the next one.   

 The Agency #3, Each book in this series is a stand alone. More suspense than romance but both equally balanced throughout the story. A story of a small town lawyer, Ellie Guthrie, and former FBI agent, Nate Marcel, working together to unravel the dirty secrets of their town Curry, Oklahoma. Ellie went against her parents wishes and settled in the small town she spent part of her childhood in; Nate after leaving the FBI got in his truck and just started to drive he ended up in Curry started ranching and woodwork. Nate was already living in Curry when Ellie moved back to her old home; Ellie was attracted to Nate from the get go but something about him told her he was an all or nothing kind of guy, and not wanting to settle down with anything other than work she tried her best to ignore her sexy neighbor. That is until weird stuff started to happen.

It started with a weird feeling and then slashed tires and escalated to dead animals outside her work. She wasn't the only target another woman in town, Mandy, was the victim of what seemed like normal vandalizm. But the first dead body shows up a supposed drug overdose and then Mandy ends up the same way not even a full day later. Ellie and Nate both know something else is happening but the local sheriff is lazy and easily accepts that it's a drug overdose. Things start to go sideways when the dead body of a known dealer is found in a building that Nate just bought. Now the narrow minded sheriff thinks Nate is behind it all. Good thing Nate has a good lawyer. Despite it all it doesn't slow Ellie down trying to figure out what's happening and why she's being targeted along with her father and other prominent figures in town.

Overall, it was a really good read. I loved the ending it was a nice twist. The suspense kept me guessing the whole way the pacing was good it had a nice flow one event to another with enough down time for Nate and Ellie to fallin love. I liked Nate and Ellie together. I love it when the guy is already halfway in love with the woman and she just needs to be shown how much and that it's okay to fall in love back. For Ellie the attraction and the feelings are there she just never had a good example of a happy couple and Nate is fully prepared to show her what one looks like and his entire family embraces her into their fold.   

I finished the second novel today, and it was amazing. Starting on the third in the collection, with a complete review to follow when I'm done with it.