Deadly Obsession by Maggie Shayne

Title: Deadly Obsession
Author: Maggie Shayne
Series: #4 in the Brown/deLuca series
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin/Mira  (December 1, 2014)
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ☕☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: A cold-blooded killer with a burning obsession…

Rachel de Luca has a bad feeling about the new woman in Detective Mason Brown's life, the nurse taking care of him after he's injured in the line of duty. She'd like to think it's just jealousy, but intuition tells her it's something more, maybe something dangerous.

Mason knows Rachel's wary of commitment, and asking her to stay when he's in this condition would be the worst thing for their relationship. Then they receive chilling news that drives everything else from their minds.

Mason's psychotic sister-in-law has escaped from custody, putting her sons — the nephews he's raising — in the crosshairs. When his house is burned to the ground, he and Rachel are relieved that there are no bodies in the smoldering rubble, but now his nephews are missing and the clock is ticking.

As Mason and Rachel try to find the boys, she senses a new and unexpected danger stalking them. Soon, everyone close to Mason is in deadly peril — Rachel more than anyone….

My Thoughts: An excellent conclusion to a fantastic series.

The Good: Forgive me if this review is nothing but a bunch of gushing about how great this book was for me. After 4 books I am honestly going to miss Rachel and Mason, not to mention Jeremy, Josh and Myrtle. These characters are forever embedded in my brain and I can only hope that Maggie Shayne will write another book in the Brown/deLuca series in the future. The plot was full of twisty-turny things that made my stomach leap to my throat. The character development was so spot on it was real (no insta-love crap!!!! wooohooo!) from the relationship between Mason and Rachel to the growing family the mismatched cast of characters became. It was fun. It was serious. It was, dare I say it again? Real.
The relationship between Rachel and Mason grew to an obvious cohabiting end point and even though they were so into each other I liked that this book didn't feel the need to have them jump into bed every other chapter. It would have been unnecessary at that point especially for someone, like myself, who sucked down the first 3 books in record time. I also really liked the way Shayne was able to bring Marie into the story in such a believable way. She's a complex secondary character that I really like and really feel sorry for. Poor Marie!

The Bad: There really isn't much in the name of Bad things I can complain about. It would have been nice to see Amy more but other than that my only real complaint is this is the LAST Brown/deLuca book. Sad Panda Face!

In a Nutshell: I've read some of Shayne's Paranormal romances and found them just OK. her Romantic Suspense books are miles beyond those. Read the Brown/deLuca books. Seriously. Read them now!

Sleep With the Lights On by Maggie Shayne

Title: Sleep With the Lights On
Author: Maggie Shayne
Series: #1 in the Brown/de Luca series
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Mira (October 1, 2013)
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ☕☕☕1/2

Synopsis: Through the Eyes of a Killer...
Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-help books. But her own blindness and the fact that her troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that positive thinking is nothing but bull.

Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her sight. The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying visions of brutal murders - crimes she soon learns are all too real.

Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving behind a horrific secret. In atonement, Mason donated his brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet. Now he wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers the shocking connection between her visions and his own brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from beyond the grave.


My Thoughts: Despite some rather unlikely elements within the book (unlikely even for a paranormal-ish book) this was a solid and entertaining thriller.

What I liked: The Characters. Sure that is pretty broad but I really did enjoy them all. I liked Rachel's snarkiness and the fact that she was a self help guru made it all even better. I appreciated Det. Brown's moral and ethical dilemma between his job and protecting his family. It made him real and very human. And let's not forget Myrtle. Rachel's rescue dog. Poor, blind, ugly Myrt. I loved her. She added a bit of lightheartedness to the book that really balanced it out.

I also enjoyed the creepy serial killer being tied to organ transplants. The way Shayne used this idea, which in itself is not a new concept, was a nice twist and added a touch of paranormal to the story. The added changing POVs was used well to keep the creepiness going. There is nothing like reading the inner thoughts of a murderer. Love it!

What I Didn't Like: The romance. It was very underdeveloped and as this was a romantic suspense novel I was expecting the romance to be in balance with the suspense. As a matter of fact the relationship between Rachel and Mason in it's entirety was a little off to me. I was able to just go with it because there are several more books in the series and a novella for their relationship to grow and I'm looking forward to their journey. However, Mason was pivotal in several parts of Rachel's new life. Her new sighted life and her new life without her brother, Tommy to be exact. The ease that Rachel accepted these things felt, well, off. I'm not sure I would have been able to start a relationship with a man who did the things Mason did. Mason is not a bad guy but you know the saying "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Quickly, just a couple more things that didn't work for me....The changing POVs. Granted, I used them as a plus which they were but in my eARC the changing POVs weren't clearly marked so it made me extremely confused when they abruptly changed. It took me a good paragraph to figure out whose thoughts I was reading throughout the book. Also the idea of the transplants, although good, seemed a little fictional. Well, duh, Christina. This is fiction after all! But seriously, a patient getting to see their donor's family was played out as being fairly easy in this book. Not so much in real life.

In a Nutshell: Even though there were some rather off putting things they really didn't diminish my enjoyment of this book. I've been in a horrible reading slump for 4 months and not only was I able to finish this book, I did it in a matter of a few days. Lately my reading has been so bad I've started dozens of book this year and have only finished 3. Yikes!