Dean Bannon has been hired to find a young girl who the police have written off as a runaway. But that’s what he and his team at the LOST (Last Option Search Team) do, they find the missing. What he doesn’t expect to find is a sexy little fortune teller who could either break the case, or break his heart….or maybe both.
Emma Castille saw Julia on the night she was taken, but she doesn’t know that. She only knows that the girl was afraid and didn’t want to go home. When Dean shows up flashing the girl’s picture around, she realizes that the girl may have been killed. She wants to help find her.
But that night, when she gets home, her house is trashed and scrawled on the wall is the phrase, “You’re next.” More terrifying than the threat is the fact that she’s seen that somewhere else…in the abandoned building she thought Julia had been staying in. Is this a serial killer at work?
Dean feels strangely protective of Emma, who isn’t psychic, but she can read people. She notices the things most people don’t. (this part was pretty cool, and kind of reminded me of that TV show Psych where he’s just incredibly good at picking things up). And when she notices those things, she’s spot-on. Even the LOST team profiler is amazed at Emma’s talent, stating that while she can get into a killer’s head, Emma can figure out everyone else.
The cast of characters in this book is fantastic. We once more see the LOST team, and there’s a new man around…a certain bad boy who runs the bad side of town, and he might have his eyes set on Sarah (a member of the LOST team). I think Jax was an unexpected find in this series. He’s dark, and gritty, and incredibly sexy. Kind of like New Orleans. I can’t wait for the next book Broken.
Cynthia Eden delivers again! An intense Romantic Suspense set in the gritty dark corners of New Orleans, Eden steamed up the pages, and kept me glued to the book. Grab this book ASAP! You won’t want to miss out on one of the best Romantic Suspense series out there.
Author’s Bio:
USA Today Best-selling author Cynthia Eden has written over twenty-five novels and novellas. She was named as a 2013 RITA® finalist for her paranormal romance, ANGEL IN CHAINS, and, in 2011, Cynthia Eden was a RITA finalist for her romantic suspense, DEADLY FEAR.
Cynthia is a southern girl who loves horror movies, chocolate, and happy endings. She has always wanted to write (don’t most authors say that?), and particularly enjoys creating stories about monsters–vampires, werewolves, and even the real-life monsters that populate her romantic suspense stories.
Cynthia’s foreign sales for her books include translations to Japan, Germany, Thailand, Greece, and Brazil.
(Back in the day…) Cynthia graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama where she studied Sociology (because people interest her) and Communication (because she likes to write about said people). Cynthia has worked as a college admissions counselor, a teacher, and as an editor. But now, Cynthia is thrilled to be spending her days making up stories.
Author Links:
Website/Blog: http://www.cynthiaeden.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cynthiaeden
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/cynthiaedenfanpage?fref=ts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/153738.Cynthia_Eden
Excerpt:
“You’re not psychic.”
Were they back to that?
She put her hands in her lap. Emma didn’t believe in making nervous gestures. She didn’t believe in giving away anything at all with her body language.
“What you are …” Ah, now he did smile. Her father would have called it a shit-eating grin. The more PC term was probably a Cheshire cat smile. Whatever the name, that smile annoyed her. “What you are, Ms. Castille … is a criminal. A fraud.”
Maybe she should grab her chest and dramatically gasp. She didn’t. “Wonderful for you,” Emma said. “You pulled up a background report one me.” She let her eyes widen a bit. “It’s amazing just what one can find if a person knows how to use a search engine.”
A furrow appeared between his eyes.
“How about I say what … you are?” Emma asked him. “A washed-up FBI agent who snapped on the job. You held your control tight every single day, but the bad guys—they just didn’t stop, did they? You hunted them, you stopped them, and more appeared. While you were fighting the system, they kept coming, and the bodies kept piling up on your watch.”
He shot right back to his feet. The folding chair slammed down behind him.
“You and your father bilked desperate people,” he accused. “You told them you were psychic, that you could help find their missing children. And you—”
“We found them.” Two girls who’d vanished. They’d found them. “We just didn’t get to them in time.” And she would not go back to that place.
She motioned toward Manuel. He knew the signal meant he could take over her booth. There was no way, no way, that she was going to stay there with that prick while he slammed the most painful moments from her past in Emma’s face.
Manuel, pale, tattooed, with piercings in his lips and eyebrows, quickly claimed her spot.
Emma jumped to her feet. Muttered her thanks, and fled right past the guy she was starting to think of as Agent Jackass.
She pushed through the crowd. Wasn’t there always a crowd in Jackson Square? And that was why she loved the place. It was so easy to vanish in a crowd. To be anyone.
The crowd closed around her.
To be no one at all.
She hurried around the back of the cathedral. She knew the streets so well. Her home was close by. Emma would get inside and forget Agent Jackass.
I’m being followed.
Emma stilled at the intersection. A horse-drawn carriage rolled by her. Voices called out.
And he touched her.
Emma didn’t flinch. Didn’t scream. She looked down at the hand on her shoulder. “When a woman runs away from you, that means you need to stay the hell away from her.”
His hold tightened on her. “You and I aren’t done.”
She looked up at his face. Had she really thought the man was handsome? Annoying, that was all Dean Bannon was.
“I need to find that girl, and you’re the only lead I have so far.”
“Then you’re not a very good investigator.”
