Mandi recs some squirm-inducing romantic suspense
I've had quite a slow reading week, so not a lot of recommendations from my end. However, I thought since Halloween is around the corner, I could give some recommendations of books that made my heart pound a little harder. Not necessarily from horror, because my romance heart couldn't take a truly scary book. But I have read some romantic suspense books and a particular urban fantasy that have made me bite my nails, hold my breath and, in some cases, look over my shoulder.
The Tracers series by Laura Griffin. I think Laura Griffin writes the best romantic suspense. Her villains are always so, so creepy and her heroes and heroines are always smart and engaging. I started with book four in the series, Snapped, and loved it so much I went back to book one and read it again. My favorite of the series (and they all can be read as stand-alones) is Twisted, which came out earlier this year. The hero is a tired FBI agent and the heroine is a young detective with a gruesome murder in her small town. A very well-written book that had my heart pounding many times. Her next book, Scorched, comes out at the end of this month and features a Navy SEAL hero. It's really good, too!
Suspense Series by Kaylea Cross. The first book I read by Kaylea Cross was No Turning Back, and talk about a book that will give you anxiety! She writes military romances with some of the best action/suspense scenes I've read. The books in this series are very intense, with great characters. She also has one book out in her Bagram Special Ops series, Deadly Descent. This features a heroine who pilots Black Hawk helicopters during medical evacuations in the Middle East and a hero who is a parajumper. A great romance in this one with some helicopter action that will have you squirming in your seat.
A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer. I don't know if "scary" is the right word to describe this book, but it definitely disturbed me. The vampires in the first book of Pamela Palmer's Vamp City series are so violent and evil, that I'm not sure I'll ever get some of the scenes out of my head. The heroine accidentally goes from normal, present-day Washington, D.C., into an alternate world called Vamp City. It's dark, gray and extremely dangerous. While there is some romance in this book, it is more of an urban fantasy with maybe a happily ever after coming in future books.
Do you have any good recommendations for books that make you hold on tight while you read?
Mandi Schreiner started romance review blog Smexy Books in 2009. She is obsessed with reading romance novels and collecting fictional boyfriends.