July TBR Challenge

This month's TBR Challenge is to read a romantic suspense. I have had this one in my TBR since March. A relatively short time considering some of them have been there for eons.

Title: Dead Wrong

Author: Janice Kay Johnson

Year published: 2006

Why did you get this book? I've read several Harlequin SR written by JKJ and really enjoyed them. I'm rather picky about the categories I read and she seems to be one of the better Harlequin authors. This one is a Signature Select which are longer in length than a category with 326 pages and some extra bonus stuff in the back.

Do you like the cover? Nothing special, but it does reflect the mood of the plot. It's a RS about a serial killer in Elk Springs, Oregon and takes place in the 'dead' of winter. Get it? Dead? I'm so clever (shut up).

Did you enjoy the book? Yes, very much. JKJ is a very consistent author and this longer length allowed her skills to really shine. Will is a lawyer working in the DA's office. Six years ago his girlfriend was brutally raped and murdered and the suspect arrested and sent to jail. Will left town after that not being able to face the guilt he feels. He has just returned to town when another girl he used to date is found murdered in the exact same way as the previous crime. Will's mother, Meg, is the lieutenant of the police force and picks Trina to work on the case with her. Trina has been in love with Will since the age of 12. Will is two years older and one of the popular crowd in HS and never noticed her.

This was a fantastic mystery/suspense that kept me riveted to my chair, especially the last 20 pages. However, the romance took a back seat to the mystery as often happens in RS but it was still enjoyable. When Will and Trina finally get together in a very sensual love scene, you can really understand how Trina feels in heaven when the man she has loved for years finally notices her and wants her. It was also a bit rushed but I'm not complaining, I loved it. Will is a bit of a self-centered jerk to his mother and father but he completely redeems himself when he apologizes. The villain was not obvious and not easy to figure out till the last quarter of the book. The epilogue was very good too (no babies mentioned :). If you like mysteries with some romance then this is the book for you.

My grade: B

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? No, as I said, I have read several by JKJ. I rec Whose Baby? (a babies switched at birth story) and What She Wants for Christmas. I will definitely read more by her.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Passing it on. Good but not a keeper.

Anything else? I realized after I started this book that there was a series written leading up to it. It's called Patton's Daughters and features Meg (Will's mother) and her two sister who all make appearances in DW and all of them categories (Harlequin SR). Now I really want to go find them. No need to read them before DW, if you're worried about reading series in order.