Sandy M’s review of Arousing Suspicions (Darling Detectives Trilogy, Book 1) by Marianne Stillings
Contemporary Romance published by Avon 27 Feb 07
These brothers are definitely darling, in more ways than one, of course. I’ve enjoyed this trilogy so far, even if I did read it out of order. I read Satisfaction and reviewed it late last year and I immediately wanted to read Nate’s story. Well, this is my immediately, eight months later. But it was worth the wait. As much as I go for the alpha heroes in my reads, a man who is as adorable as Nate wins my heart just as completely as any he-man.
Coming home to San Francisco, Nathan has hopes of reconciling with his brother and sister after a long separation when their parents divorced, but so far Ethan hasn’t welcomed him back into the fold. So he goes about his job as a SFPD detective, fighting crime the best he can. He’s not prepared, however, when he’s sent to a home to investigate a complaint of solicitation, especially when he meets the lady in question.
The woman may be a charlatan when it comes to her supposed psychic abilities, but after his deceitful playacting to trap her on a prostitution charge, he knows she’s in no way any type of call girl. He also discovers she’s somehow involved with several murders that have happened throughout the city and hopes she’s not the perpetrator. He finds himself thinking about her when he should be focusing on the job and that’s never happened before. In between all this, he’s still trying to make inroads with Ethan, but he’s about to give up that dead horse. The love he needs and wants always takes him back to the woo-hoo weirdo lady who thinks she can see people’s dreams.
Tabitha has given up on love and the opposite sex after both her father and then her ex-husband were typical men, just up and leaving when things got too tough for them. Keeping a handle on her emotions and feelings, however, when it comes to Nate is something that’s nearly impossible. She’s trying to hang onto her home, keeping both repairs and her ex at bay, and now she has a probable murderer as a client, so trying to juggle a man and a relationship at the same time doesn’t seem possible. But his charm, his wit, his body, his sex appeal, and his love of baseball are whittling her defenses down to nothing. She has to either get her act together and embrace the love Nate has for her or head for the highway and take a different road in her life. The killer on the loose has different ideas, though, and it may be too late for Tabby to grab onto the best thing she’s ever had in her life.
There’s just something about Ms. Stillings’ writing that calls to me. I finished this book in a day, and I haven’t done that in a while. I remember going through Satisfaction nearly as quickly. I like the elements of the paranormal in her books, even the skepticism that goes along with it for a while. As much of a gentleman as Nate is, I really enjoyed the way he let Tabitha know it was time to make love, and the later love scene in the car during a rainstorm was as sexy as could be. And I loved Nate even more when he didn’t give up on Tabby when she couldn’t say those three little words when he needed her to. The antagonism between Nate and Ethan is a good underlying story to the romance and the main story, one that should finally come to a head in Killer Charms, the last book in the trilogy, which is to be released in a matter or days, and one I have in hand. That one I am starting immediately!
Grade: A
Summary:
Detective Nate Darling has put up with a lot of weird things since he’s moved back to San Francisco—healing crystals, free range tofu, the SF Giants. But he’s drawing the line at psychic dream interpretations.
Tabitha March claims she can see other people’s dreams. In fact, she insists she “saw” a murder, and even provides Nate with explicit details of the crime. There’s no doubt the curvaceous blue-eyed blonde knows something, but how is she involved? Is she the murderer? Because there’s just no way that Tabitha can really “see” the killer’s dream.
Then another body is discovered, just the way Tabitha described it would be. Now evidence suggests she may be the next victim. And Nate has to reconsider his beliefs or risk losing the woman he has fallen in love with . . . forever.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
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