Are You Afraid? (Signet Eclipse) by Carla Cassidy starts things off this time with her latest, and imagine my shock when I discovered this one actually has a romance in it! Jessica Langford has overcome much to get where she is in life, and now her past has caught up with her, starting with frightening phone calls to her radio show. Detective Jake Merriden is on the case, though, but with issues of his own. For me, while this one did have more romance than her last couple, this one is not a keeper. Maybe it's an 'author's voice' issue for me, but I really think Ms. Cassidy does better suspense than romance. Now if only we could get the bookstores to shelve her there.... I'm giving this one only two of Cupid's five arrows.

Dead Heat (Berkley) by Jacey Ford, aka Beverly Brandt, has agent Daphne Donovan on a new case, one that brings her into contact with Sam Bryson. Close contact. This one didn't do it for me either. There's some jumping around in the beginning that's very confusing, and the relationship between this pair didn't work for me. I just didn't believe. Too bad. This one gets two arrows as well.

The Kiss (Berkley) by Elda Minger finishes things out this time, with Tess Sommerville discovering on the eve of her wedding that her fiance is cheating on her. So she takes off with an old (and hunky!) school pal, Will Tremere, across the country. This one was my biggest disappointment of the bunch. At least I went into the first two books knowing that I've already disliked their predecessors. I've read and highly enjoyed some of Ms. Minger's previous books; they were hot and sexy. This was neither. Will is too perfect, and Tess too easily overcomes her 'heartbreak'. Very, very disappointing. I can't give this one more than two arrows either.

Until next time, happy reading!