Alicia’s review of Mind Games by Merline Lovelace
Paranormal romance released by Silhouette Nocturne on 1 Apr 08

If I’m going to read a paranormal romance, it’s probably about psychic ability. Not communicating with the dead or predicting the future, but telekinesis or telepathy. Though they aren’t as common as the witches, vamps, and weres in para romance. Happily for me, Merline Lovelace is releasing one in April, just in time for our Nocturne month!

Mind Games starts with Captain Taylor Chase approaching Dr. Mark Wolfson about helping her on a mission. He knows the person she needs to get in contact with, so he is the perfect person to help her. The problem is the affair they had almost 8 years earlier and the unfriendly way it ended.

Taylor drums up the nerve to approach Mark but immediately loses the upper hand. Mark isn’t some cool alpha hero, even if he keeps the power position in the negotiation. He’s not military, he’s a scientist, but he knows who he is and what he’s capable of and he doesn’t rattle easily.

I loved the power plays between these two. Mark gives Taylor a lot of ground out of a sense of fairness, which was refreshing. He didn’t seem to suffer too much from testosterone poisoning. Taylor gains a new, more mature perspective on their past together. The way the relationship played out was just right.

I really enjoyed reading a book where the author seemed to know what she was talking about. I’ve been around the military for 15 years. I’m not super picky about specifics – I won’t care if a rank is wrong or a bullet wouldn’t go that far. What bothers me is when an author doesn’t understand the mindset of a military character and portrays them all wrong. Merline gets the characters and it makes such a difference.

It’s not just with the military, either. The characters are what make this book so good.  Don’t get me wrong, the plot is great – there aren’t any cheap devices to make me groan – but the characters are vibrantly portrayed. You get perspective on Taylor’s past right along with her. You get Mark’s fear when something is more than he can handle. The bad guys are people you can understand, not just evil because they’re evil.

I like that Mark doesn’t suddenly have out-of-the-blue, secret professional military or law enforcement training – that really ruins a book for me. In fact, the best thing about this book is the total lack of all the things that usually mess up a story for me.

Mind Games is smoothly written, the plot is exciting, the romance is believable, and the sexual tension is perfect without being too explicit. Make that HOT… still without being too explicit. The end was sweet. I’ll be looking for more from Merline Lovelace.

Grade: A

     For Air Force special agent Taylor Chase, invading a billionaire’s island fortress was headache enough. But partnering with Dr. Mark Wolfson forced her to revisit the darkest chapter of her past. As his lab assistant, she’d been his lover—and turned into another one of his telekinetic experiments. He’d influenced her thoughts and dominated her very being, and she’d sworn off him forever.

     Yet when the sheer horror of the billionaire’s plan was revealed, Taylor and Mark realized only their telepathic bond could save them. But could they handle the deep-rooted extrasensory passion that had blown up in their faces years ago? Their very lives depended on the answer…of just who was controlling whom.…

Read an excerpt.