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Monday, October 28, 2019

Book #Review: Innocent Prey (Brown & De Luca # 3) by Maggie Shayne .@maggieshayne .@HarlequinBooks

Book Title: Innocent Prey (Brown & De Luca 3)
Author:  Maggie Shayne|WebsiteTwitterFacebookInstagram
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Genre: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Romantic Thriller
Series/Standalone: Book 3
Format: ebook, Mass Market 
Cost: $4.99
Pages: 320
How I got it: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: October 01, 2014
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Synopsis:
To save innocent lives, they'll have to risk their own.

Self-help superstar Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown have finally given in to their overwhelming attraction to each other, but neither of them is ready to let physical passion turn into full-blown romance, so they carefully maintain an emotional distance. Then a judge's daughter disappears, and Mason has a terrible sense that it's connected to the most recent case they solved together: the abduction of Rachel's assistant.

The discovery of a string of missing women—all young, all troubled—seems like a promising lead. But there's no clear connection between the missing girls and the high-profile young woman Mason is trying to find. He realizes that once again he'll have to rely on his own well-honed instincts and Rachel's uncanny capacity to see through people's lies in order to catch a predator and rescue his captives. But can they do it before Rachel becomes his next victim?
**** Trigger Warning: For violence towards women, discussion of trafficking of women***

This harkens back to the case we started in on in Dream of Danger. Young women have been going missing for a while, then Amy was snatched and while they were able to catch one of the men involved it appears this case is bigger and has far-reaching corruption. Just how far?? Well, that's what we're going to find out in this care.

I absolutely loved this one. I felt like Rachel and Mason had really hit their stride after the first three cases and are now dealing with more than what is happening within their family circle.  This time this case doesn't originate from the original decision Mason made, and they are scrambling to fit all the pieces in. Rachel also has to make a decision about what she really wants from Mason as there is promotion up for grabs and she wants Mason to go for it, but does he want it?? How will it impact their relationship??   This one feels right on time considering all the reckoning that's happening (much deserved and for some way too lenient) her in the US right now.

Once again the story starts off wild, with the victim and we just know that the tiny glimmer of hope she had was not going to be enough. I actually flinched reading that passage.  Then we get to Rachel and Mason who are working on their relationship (is that what they have or nah??)  and they end up with a case that needs to be off the books as the victim's dad doesn't want it spread about that his daughter is missing. Mason's instincts are screaming and he turns to Rachel for help and from there we get one hell of a ride.

We jump back and forth from Mason, Rachel and the young woman who is missing. She's realizing just how vulnerable she is now, and even though she's not alone she's trying to make sure the others with her hold out hope. When given the chance the young women attempt to escape and one of them pays with her life but this is the break Mason needed to make this case an official bring in the big guns case and they are off and running.  So much happens from Rachel having to face some home truths to Mason realizing that there is more going on than even he believed and young women fighting to stay alive long enough to be rescued.

Rachel has a few moments here that make her a too stupid to live character, but at the same time, it was the most realistic response to what would happen that I had to laugh and totally understood at the same time why she did it.  I loved Rachel's snark as it helped her get through so many tough situations while allowing her to speak the truth. I loved the development of the characters that we have seen and wish we could get a bit more about Mason's best friend.

Once agian the case took a big chunk of the story while peppering bits about their personal lives without the story of the case being sacrificed. I loved the balance between the two; I found the case and the characters engaging and needed to know how it all was going to be resolved.  I read this one pretty quickly as well and can't wait to see what the next one has for us.  I enjoyed that she also leaves little stings to be pulled in other books, never quite giving us a full scoop on Mason and Rachel's issues as that would be too neat.
 ★★★★☆
Series In Order
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Happy Reading my loves, 

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