Romantic Suspense but Not a Thriller

Mary Theresa, now known as Marquise and Maggie are twins and used to be close as children when they could communicate telepathically. Now Marquise works as a TV-show host in Denver while Maggie has retreated to the countryside in Idaho with her 16-year old daughter. Then one evening, Maggie hears her sister’s voice in her head; “It was Thane, he did this to me. Don’t let him get away with it.” She tries to hear more, but there’s only silence. A few hours later, this Thane stands on her doorstep. Her sister has been missing for days and the police think that he may have killed her. Before settling down as a true-crime writer, Maggie worked for a PI and she wants to use those skills to find her sister.

From the first word, there’s a strong reaction between Maggie and Thane and it’s obvious that there’s a lot of unfinished history between them. A prediction? Inevitably they will end up in bed together. It’s the classical ‘from enemies to lovers’ template.
There’s a strong sexual undercurrent in this story, as seems to be customary with this author. It doesn’t bug me, but I’m sure that there will be people that don’t like the sexual content in some chapters. Not that there’s something indecent or shocking in those sexual encounters, think of Karen Rose type of interludes, but some people seem to be easily offended. If you are, this book is not for you. But if you’re looking for real erotica, this won’t be it either. In the first place, it’s crime fiction though with an added romance.
The author clearly knows how to build up tension and suspense with several well-found twists and turns in the plot.
Not all characters are likeable. The missing sister is a cold-hearted bitch, if you ask me. In the past, Marquise has betrayed Maggie in a ruthless way, but despite all that passed between them, she still packs up to go and search for her. Her feelings towards Thane are ambiguous. She’s still in love with him but won’t admit it to it. On the other hand, she doesn’t trust him because he’s keeping more than one secret from her. There’s also a daughter who acts and thinks like a typical teenager and complicates her mother’s life more than once.
The story is told in a dual timeline; the events now and the things that happened when the girls were 17. The ‘now’ also must be taken with a pinch of salt as the book was first published in 2006. Some elements as smoking and cell-phone covering may feel a bit out-dated therefore, but not to the extent of interfering with the story.
I thank Netgalley and Kensington for the free ARC they provided and this is my unbiased, honest review of it.