Casee‘s review of Hold On to Me (Hearts of the South Series, Book 3) by Linda Winfree.
For FBI profiler Caitlin Falconetti, immersing herself in her job is the only way to quell the memories of a vicious, near-fatal attack and all it cost her, including the only man she ever loved. Better to let him think she simply rejected him, rather than reveal a painful secret that she’s certain would have destroyed his feelings for her.
Investigator Lamar “Tick” Calvert is determined to clean out the corruption-riddled sheriff’s department in his hometown. While he understands Caitlin’s drive to excel at her job, it doesn’t mean he’s happy about the prospect of working with his former lover, the one woman he tried and failed to hold onto.
A rash of unsolved murders brings them together to find the murderer before another woman dies. Daily contact re-ignites the lingering attraction between them, but Caitlin won’t risk opening herself and revealing her secret. She plans to complete the killer’s profile, make an arrest and get out of town for good.
Tick plans to solve this case, too, but now that Caitlin’s back in his life, he also plans to finally dig up the truth about why she left him.
But there’s an added complication—the killer isn’t done, and Caitlin could be the next target.
w00t!
With my below average superior sleuthing skills, I figured out who the killer was before chapter three. That is huge, people. A day to write down in the books, as a matter of fact. And it wasn’t obvious. Or maybe it was more obvious than I thought. Whatever. I was thrilled that I figured it out.
The last thing Tick Calvert needs is Caitlin Falconetti coming into his town and back into his life. Before going on his last deep cover mission for the FBI, Tick and Cait had taken their long-time friendship to the next level. Tick knew he loved her then, but decided to wait until he returned to tell her. When he did return, it was to have Caitlin kick him out of her life. No explanations, no reasons. So when Tick returns to Chandler County to be an investigator for the Sheriff’s department, he hopes to move on.
When the daughter of a U.S. Senator is murdered, he wants the best of the case. The best profiler in the FBI is Caitlin. Though the last thing she wants to do is see Tick, she has no choice. Seeing him is harder than she thought. It also brings up memories that she would rather forget.
While investigating what is apparently a serial killer, Tick takes a closer look at Caitlin. He notices that she’s far from the woman he left the year before. There are shadows in her eyes that he recognizes. His years in the FBI have given him a sixth sense and everything about Caitlin screams “victim”.
Caitlin does have a secret, one she had hoped to never tell Tick. If a heroine kept a secret like the one Caitlin did from Tick, I would usually have a problem with it. She was just terrified of what he would think of her and how she failed. That was so obvious that I couldn’t help but sympathize with her. And while she wants to believe that there is a chance for her and Tick, she knows that he will never forgive her.
The characters in this series are so real. They have real life problems. Because it’s an ongoing series, you get to see the same characters over and over again. Winfree shows that even if you’ve found your HEA, things aren’t always puppies and roses. I think that’s one of the things I appreciate most about this series so far.
4 out of 5.
This book is available from Samhain Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Other books in the series:
Isn’t it totally addicting? It was my best series of the year last year.