Review of WILD AT HEART by Jane Graves (see her website)
Ivy Books, October 2002
Straight-arrow cop Alex DeMarco was doing a pretty good job fending off Shannon Reichert's unwanted advances. He simply wanted to reassure her there were no burglars in her home, then get out. But someone drugged him, and he woke up to find himself facing a murder charge. One witness might be able to help him--the private eye who was keeping Shannon's house under surveillance. But the P.I. just happens to be Alex's former lover, who now hates his guts. But Valerie does end up helping him. She has as much stake in finding the murderer as Alex, because now someone is trying to kill her. On the lam, they have to prove who really killed Shannon while dealing with their powerful attraction and feelings that aren't as dead as they'd hoped.
Ms. Graves' (see all BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by this author) follow-up to last year's hit, I GOT YOU, BABE, is even bigger and bolder than its predecessor. A bit darker than BABE, WILD AT HEART none the less has some pretty hysterical moments, particularly in the sections dealing with Stanley, a small-town deputy who makes Barney Fife look like Rambo. The emotional conflict is very believable, very real, and is resolved in a completely satisfying manner. And the suspense will keep your skin tingling and your mouth dry. With WILD AT HEART, Graves firmly establishes herself as a big girl in the single-title suspense genre. Do we really have to wait another year to get the third DeMarco brothers' story?
See also books Jane Graves has written as Jane Sullivan.
Four Stars
Purchase WILD AT HEART from Amazon.com. (Available in paperback.)