Judith’s review of Against The Night (The Raines of Wind Canyon #5) by Kat Martin
She’s got the face of an angel and the body of…well, isn’t that what he’d expect from an exotic dancer? But there’s something about this girl that Johnnie Riggs can’t shake. The former army ranger is hot on the trail of an elusive drug lord—and suddenly very hot under the collar, as well.
Amy’s got her own agenda to pursue: her sister is missing and Amy seems to be the only one who cares. She’ll enlist Johnnie’s help and do her best to ignore her growing attraction to finally get some answers. But when the two trails begin to converge and reveal something even more sinister than they imagined, their mutual desire is the least of their problems. They’ll bring the truth to light…or die trying.
This fifth novel in The Raines of Wind Canyon series features a hero who is a friend of the original brothers and who has figured in past novels as a background character. As a former Army Ranger he has been involved in some serious stuff and is now using many of those skills as a private investigator and sometimes bounty hunter who apprehends those who have jumped bail, especially in areas that are home to some of his past military buddies. Now Johnny Riggs is trailing a child molester and that trail leads him to the stripper club where Amy is dancing–a Michigan kindergarten teacher on a mission to find her missing sister who was also a dancer at this club. As it turns out, the owner of the club is a fair and honest person and an acquaintance that understands Johnny’s presence as well as giving assistance from time to time. Johnny is one of those guys that carries around a lot of guilt and trauma from his military days, stuff he has glossed over and buried deep in order to survive in his post Army Ranger days. He has no plans to ever “settle down” and accepts the fact that women may move in and out of his life but they won’t ever stay long.
This novel takes the reader into the shadows of night life and the fringes of crime in Los Angeles, bringing in connections and relational networking that allow Johnny to call on friends from the past in his efforts to help Amy, a project he takes on simply because he can’t get her out of his mind after seeing her dance and beginning to get acquainted with her. He realizes she isn’t a “professional” and is deeply disturbed about what she is doing, yet her gutsy determination to “stay the course” until she locates her sister entices him to become her “knight in shining armor” even though that assistance ultimately becomes the foundation of an affair.
I read the first three novels in this series and was delighted to see the two additional novels now available. I enjoyed this story for several reasons: 1) I like this author’s work and find her style very readable; 2) I like romance novels that include some aspect of suspense/mystery and it is certainly present in this book; and 3) as a resident of So. California I enjoy books that are set in Los Angeles and surrounding environs because I can more easily visualize the locations that are germaine to the story. I liked Johnny–a man who accepted who he had become and was willing to live within those boundaries. He wasn’t unable to sustain relationships as demonstrated by his continuing friendship with his deceased, policewoman sister’s partner with the LAPD as well as his former military buddies. Most telling, however, was a relationship he sustained with the widow of a movie producer who owned the property and guest house where he lived, a woman who had, for all intent and purpose, adopted him emotionally and who played an important role in his life. Johnny’s affair with Amy, while based initially on their search for her sister, was one of those I’m-going-to-d0-this-so-I-get-her-out-of-my-system kind of things but as is most often the case, that didn’t work.
And don’t let Amy fool you. She is a woman who has limited experience with men, who has led a stable and sheltered life in Michigan, who loves her students and would do anything for them, but is discovering as she goes along that she possesses a tenacity that surprises even her as she does some very gutsy things to gain information about her sister’s movements and whereabouts. On no occasion is she willing to let Johnny do this “for” her. She is right there with him. She is a woman who won’t be taken for granted yet there is about her a winsome innocence that no amount of exposure to the seedier aspects of life in Los Angeles seems to decrease. Quite an interesting character and one I came to appreciate increasingly as I read through the novel.
I hope you’ll read this one as I think it is well worth the time and effort to do so.
I give it a rating of 4 out of 5
The series:
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Mira. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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