Reviewer: Holly Hold On To Me by Linda Winfree
Series: Hearts of the South #3
Also in this series: Truth and Consequences, What Mattered Most, His Ordinary Life, Uncovered, Fall Into Me, Memories of Us (Hearts of the South #5), Hearts Awakened, Facing It, Gone From Me (Hearts of the South, #10), Memories of Us (Hearts of the South #5)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: December 11th 2007
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
Pages: 405
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Series Rating:
She keeps a secret buried in the past. He wants the truth—now. But an unknown killer could destroy their future.
Book Three in the Hearts of the South series.
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.
Warning: Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, light bondage, graphic language, violence.
She keeps a secret buried in the past. He wants the truth—now. But an unknown killer could destroy their future.
This is the third book in Linda Winfree’s Hearts of the South series.
Caitlin and Tick were getting pretty hot and heavy when he was given and undercover assignment and disappeared. While he’s away Caitlin is attacked and almost dies. When he gets back he tries to rekindle things but she pushes him away for reasons of her own. Heartbroken, Tick returns home and begins the process of cleaning out the corrupt sheriff’s department. When Caitlin is called in as the profiler in a serial killer case, they’re forced to work together. Tick doesn’t want to let her go, but Caitlin is determined to keep him at arms-length. Too bad for her he’s more stubborn than she could ever be.
This is an emotionally compelling tale. The heartbreak and loneliness both characters felt really came through. Caitlin’s reasons for pushing Tick away seem flimsy on the surface, but Winfree did such an excellent job showing her pain and anger it really worked. Caitlin was a great heroine. Strong and independent, yet fully relatable. For his part, Tick was a pretty solid character. He was steady and honest, and his determination to win Caitlin back was wonderful to witness.
The procedural stuff often frustrates me in romantic suspense, but Winfree does her beautifully. Though there were some minor points I could nitpick, the truth is I was wrapped up in the story and barely noticed until it was over.
This is Winfree’s fourth book. Her plots are tighter, her characters more balance and her overall story better than in the previous releases. I’ve noted before that she only seems to get better with each release, and I find that’s absolutely true here.
This is an emotionally wrought tale filled with love, redemption and a good amount of suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
3.5 out of 5
You heard she’s writing again, right?
Yes ma’am. May and July.