Hot Pursuit

I love how all the stories I have read, tie into other stories and all the characters work together even from different places, or are related, or know each other. Every time I pick up a book, I am so excited to learn the background and life of someone who was a player in another story. Keep them coming Karen Rose and I will be a loyal reader forever

What could possibly be better than a great romantic suspense book? A book that includes stories from three of my favorite romantic suspense authors! With HOT PURSUIT you get a range of stories packed with mystery, action, adventure, and sizzling passion. When you read stories by Karen Rose, Annie Solomon, and Carla Cassidy, you know you're going to get a thrill ride. Karen Rose, author of the 2005 RITA winning I'm Watching You, brings us DIRTY SECRETS, a story about lost opportunities and the chance to do things over. Dr. Emma Townsend is a woman trying to put her life back together. A woman who wrote a best-selling book about dealing with grief, she's not having a lot of luck dealing with her own after the death of her husband, Will, who was killed during an apparent convenience story robbery. The nineteen-year-old robber was sentenced to life without parole in prison, but it's small consolation to Emma, who misses her husband dearly. Then, while cleaning out her house of her late husband's belongings, she finds an old letter in her high-school yearbook-a letter from her best guy-friend, Chris, declaring his love for her and letting her know he'd be waiting if she wanted to see if their friendship could turn into something more. Seventeen years ago, Christopher Walker was left with a broken heart when Emma Townsend never spoke to him again after their junior prom. He'd felt something that night, something that caused him to confess his love for Emma in a letter and slip it into her yearbook. Those days are long over, though, and these days Chris has a whole lot more on his mind. For one, there's his young daughter, Megan, to worry about, and secondly, there's the fact that one of his graduate students has been murdered in his chemistry lab. As the authorities question Chris about the murder of Darrell Roberts, he gets the feeling that there's more to the murder than meets the eye-and that he himself might be a target. Then, out of the blue comes a call from a private investigator with the news that Emma Townsend is looking for him, and things really start to get interesting. As these two people try to reconnect from a shared past, over a passion that may or may not still linger, danger lurks in the shadows. Who is after Chris, and was Emma's husband's death really an accident? Can their newfound romance survive the danger that's all around them? Annie Solomon, author of Blind Curve (Warner Forever) and Like a Knife, brings us a winning suspense story with NECESSARY BETRAYALS. Ever since Francesca Burn's father was sent to prison five years ago for his association with mob leader Arturo Calvino, Frannie has concentrated on her younger sister, Gina, and leading an above-board life by severing all ties with the Calvino family. Until fifteen-year-old Gina calls her on a cell phone with a bad connection, crying frantically, and the only words Frannie can understand in her sister's dialogue are "can you hear me?" and "Calvino." Frannie, fran

Hot Pursuit is a spine tingling anthology of romance and suspense at its best. Dirty Secrets by Karen Rose has Professor Christopher Walker devastated by the death of one of his research students. Back in the Midwest PHD Emma Townsend comes across an old love letter stuck in her high school yearbook. A letter she never knew about from her best friend Chris Walker. Emma decides to track down Chris and apologize. But before they can explore this new romance the danger surrounding Chris is shifter to Emma. Dirty Secrets is fast paces, full of intrigue and deep-seated Passion. Annie Solomon's Necessary Betrayals has Francesca Berns a mobster's daughter trying to start a new life. When her sister disappears she is forced to work with the undercover cop you had betrayed her, Detective Quinn Lewis. As they search for the missing girl all those buried feelings come roaring back to life. This story has a lot of twist and turns that will keep you on your toes. Endless Night by Carla Cassidy start out with Amanda Kincaid on the most boring blind date of her life. Her sister thought Clay Murdock would be perfect for her. Luckily the date is over and Amanda is driving Clay home. Next thing she knows they are being shot at and are on the run for their lives. Getting to the bottom of the shooting will take all of Amanda and Clay's wits. They pack a lot into a first date. Hot Pursuit is a top-notch anthology of Romantic Suspense.

Hot Pursuit is a collection of mini stories each written by a different author. As a whole the book is mediocre. Individually each story is not great, but good for a light read. Is it worth the money? I bought it and don't necessarily regret it, but if you happen to see it in a library some day, you may want to check it out instead. It's not one I particularly consider worth holding on to for years to come if that helps any. Dirty Secrets by Karen Rose is the story of two high school friends who shared a brief chance at romance, but were too shy to tell the other how each felt. Years later, Emma finds a letter from Christopher tucked away in an old yearbook professing his secret fondness for her. Thinking that she broke his heart, Emma finds him to apologize. Little does she know that just reconnecting with the man puts her life in danger as well as his. There is a killer out there that will stop at nothing to make sure his secret remains that way and the two old friends may just know more than they realize. I have read all of Karen Rose's novels and loved the first two, but have noticed her style changing. She seems to be conforming to the average writer with typical pacing rather than the fast, suspense filled romantic mystery she began with. Dirty Secrets was good, but not great in comparison to what this author could be writing. Necessary Betrayals by Annie Solomon was great. It is exactly what a romantic suspense should be. It grabs you from the beginning, pulling you into the characters lives and when you realize that the story is quickly about to end, you want it to continue. Unfortunately, the ending didn't shock me but then very few authors do. There were not enough red herrings in this particular novel in my opinion to have you suspect anyone else. However, the writing was well done and this mini book was the best in the set. Francesca receives a disturbing call from her thirteen year old sister that connects the girl to a mob boss found dead that same night. Now her sister is missing and the only man who can help her is Quinn, the man she fell in love with who betayed her years earlier and broke her heart. In a fast paced race to find Francesca's sister the two find themselves unraveling the mystery behind what happened at the mobster's home as well as running from a gunman. Reluctant to give in to the passion that once flamed between the two, they realize that sometimes it takes a life or death situation to realize how much you still care. The final short story in this book is Endless Night by Carla Cassidy. It moves quickly, but then how could it not when the whole story is only 59 pages long. The author definitely could have drawn this story out a little longer continuing with the suspense and developing the character's attraction more thoroughly, but for a quick read it was fairly decent. Just don't expect any sort of mystery to this story. It was simply a short fictional story with a touch of romance to it. Amanda and Clay b

"Dirty Secrets" by Karen Rose. A letter that is mislaid brings former high school friends Christopher and Emma back together in an effort to recover it. However, neither expected the danger from losing the letter as secrets are revealed that some would say should have remained hidden. "Necessary Betrayals" by Annie Solomon. Because she feels it is important to be legit following the imprisonment of her father five years ago, Francesca ended her ties with her dad's mob friends even before he died. However, following a mob murder, her sister Gina apparently observed it and then vanished afterward. Fearing the worst, Francesca turns back to those she avoided including the mob and the police detective Quinn whose efforts sent her dad to prison. "Endless Night" by Carla Cassidy. Amanda cannot believe how her blind date could turn so dangerous, but like a B movie it does. She finds herself on the run with a former cop Clay whose identity has been revealed to a hit-man hired to kill the ex law enforcement official. These three action-packed novellas start at hyperspeed only to accelerate even faster until the final climax. Each tale contains strong women in the Perils of Pauline like trouble working to survive alongside a male who risks their lives to keep these courageous females they are falling in love with alive. Harriet Klausner