We're into the April romances now, and I'm happy to kick off the month with Barbara Freethy's Silent Fall (Onyx), the follow up to last month's Silent Run. This time, Jake's brother Dylan Sanders meets his match. In more ways than one. While in Tahoe celebrating his brother's wedding, Jake meets up with the new bride's pal Catherine Hilliard, an artist who claims psychic visions. Jake can appreciate a beautiful woman, sure, but psychic? Probably not. Still, her prediction is intriguing, particularly when a woman he had a one-night-stand with arrives unannounced. Then she leaves him drugged and unconscious in the woods, and she's missing when he finds his way back to the lodge in the morning. Catherine can't help being attracted to Dylan, but she's got too much pain and darkness from her past to deal with in her own life, so getting involved with Dylan's troubles seems a bad idea. So, naturally, she sticks with Dylan. This one is fast-paced, giving Dylan and Catherine only a couple days to figure out who's trying to frame Dylan for murder, and there's no shortage of suspects. If you're like me, you'll spend much of the book trying to figure out whodunit, and failing miserably. The mystery here is great, and the relationship between Dylan and Catherine intense and intriguing. The only thing I was disappointed in here was the level of sensuality. Then again, this pair didn't have the same history as Jake and Sarah in Silent Run. During my read of this one, I had to go to work, and with only about fifty pages to go, I really hated to stop reading before I found out how things turned out. The villain will be a shocker, so don't try too hard to figure it out. Just enjoy the wild ride. This one's earned four of Cupid's five arrows, a definite keeper.
Until next time, happy reading!
