One Dark Wish

October 15, 2018
Wray’s sensual second Deadly Force romantic thriller (after Every Deep Desire) sets up a tender romance in parallel with an exciting adventure. Historian Sarah Munro is working for the Savannah Preservation Office when she meets Nate Walker, a handsome ex-military man who gives her a 17th-century map to study. When Sarah’s father is hospitalized and Sarah is accused of elder abuse on scant evidence, Sarah is devastated. After Nate protects Sarah from an intruder in her home, an elusive figure known as the Prince demands that Sarah stop trying to understand the map’s centuries-old cipher; the Prince’s enemy, Remiel, wants the cipher solved. Nate and Sarah work together to solve the cipher and use it as a bargaining chip between the Prince, who’s threatening Nate’s fellow soldiers, and Remiel, who controls Sarah’s father’s institutionalization. Danger and sensuality surround Sarah and Nate in their race to figure out the puzzle and protect those they love. This complex novel, chock full of characters and simmering subplots, is the opposite of fluffy; it will appeal to those who appreciate intricate stories. Agent: Deidre Knight, Knight Agency.

February 1, 2019
Trying to uncover secrets to save her professional reputation, historian Sarah Munro finds herself in the crosshairs of two mysterious and dangerous organizations--but also with some unexpected allies, including one very sexy former Green Beret.Sarah's professional life has been dedicated to reframing a Colonial-era pirate romance, but after colleagues publish her work prematurely, she is ridiculed. That's not what she needs on top of her father's deteriorating health and related professional struggles. Trespassing in a private cemetery for research, she is suddenly the target of a crime boss who wants her to find the ancient pirate hiding sites her research was leading her to and also of Cassio, another enigmatic figure who is part protector and part assassin and who threatens to harm her if she finds them. Enter Nate Walker, a sexy ex-Green Beret with his own checkered past who is suffering from similar headaches and seizures as her father. Protective and fierce, he stands by her side at all times and falls in love with her. That's difficult since he's learned he's going to be sent to a military prison hospital for nearly a decade, but while he's around, he'll defend her to the death. Combining his military and math skills with Sarah's historical knowledge enables the two to solve the ancient riddle. Now they just have to figure out who is friend, who is foe, and how they can survive--and keep Nate out of jail. Wray's sophomore romance has way too much going on and too many shadowy, convoluted characters doing things with high drama and ultimately pointless urgency, though the immediate thorny romantic issues are smoothed out in satisfying ways.An interesting central theme that's overplotted to a confusing degree and careens more than unfolds.

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September 1, 2019

Historian Sarah Munroe has a lot on her plate. Her career took a downward spiral ever since her work on a colonial-era pirate romance was published before it was ready. She also had to move back to Savannah to help her father, who is suffering from seizures and memory loss. Continuing her research despite her supervisor's orders against it, she sneaks into a private cemetery hoping to find the grave of a pair of cursed lovers. There, she becomes the target of a crime lord and an assassin, one of whom wants her to uncover the love story, while the other asks her to stop her investigation. Assistance comes in the form of ex-Green Beret Nate Walker. Though he has the same seizures as her father and is about to be sent away for years, he works to help her decode the cipher of a 17th-century map and fiercely protects her from the forces that want her dead. VERDICT Danger abounds in this steamy second entry in Wray's "Deadly Force" series (after Every Deep Desire) that is unfortunately marred by too many plot twists, making it difficult even for familiar readers to keep everything straight.--Nanci Milone Hill, M.G. Parker Memorial Lib., Dracut, MA

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