This time out, I have Sarah McKerrigan's Danger's Kiss (Grand Central). Desiree has trained for years to steal. Now, her teacher and the closest thing she had to family, Hubert, is gone, and he's left her in the care of the local law, Nicholas Grimshaw, who's in charge of executions like Hubert's. Desiree is not happy about this state of affairs, and she does all she can to sabotage the arrangement--after all, why would she be excited to stay with the man she feels killed her friend? At first. Nicholas isn't thrilled with it, or with his life in general, but he does what he must. There's no way a relationship between this pair should ever work. And I'm not convinced it really does. Someone set up Hubert for murder, and Desiree finds her way through the plotting to the culprit, who'd just as soon see her dead as well. While I could buy an attraction between this pair, I just didn't believe in the story. Desiree has reasons for the way she is, true, but I couldn't excuse some of her behavior. Nicholas's own rationale is pretty firm, but I didn't get his feelings for Desiree beyond the physical attraction, I'm afraid. The villain isn't too difficult to figure out, if you're hoping for a good mystery along with the romance, but that doesn't matter to some readers (like me in this case). I'd just hoped for a story I could fall in love with. Unfortunately, I didn't, so this one's earned only two and a half of Cupid's five arrows. Mostly forgettable, for me.
Until next time, happy reading!