Deadly Fall started off with a thrilling chase scene in which detective Nick Markov and his partner witness the brutal murder of millionaire Andrew (Drew) Langan. Top of the suspect list is soon to be ex-wife Augusta Langan, a beautiful art history professor at NYU. But Nick doesn’t believe for one second she is guilty, and works to prove her innocence. The suspense thickens when another body is found, directly connected to Drew’s murder. Not sure if she can trust Nick, Augusta agrees to work with the detective to bring down Drew’s murderer. But when Augusta’s life is threatened, Nick assigns himself as her personal protector. I really enjoyed the suspense aspect of this book quite a bit. It was well plotted and kept me guessing, which I love in a suspense novel. It moved fast, and provided many unforeseen twists in the story. The conclusion was well done, I didn’t see it coming. However, the romance aspect of this book was a bit underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Nick and Augusta a lot, they were great characters individually. They were smart, professional characters with great heads on their shoulder. No TSTL moments….etc. And there were a few really good steamy moments too. My main issue was the romance progressed at such an unnatural rapid fire pace it was jarring. They barely knew each other before they were getting physical, and after just a few days they began to act as if they knew each other their entire lives. I simply didn’t buy it. I think the author could have made me more of a believer if she toned down all the ‘insta-lust’ and ‘insta-hard ons’ moments, especially toward the beginning. Spoiler #1 (view spoiler)[ The scene where they get hot and heavy in the interrogation room almost had me DNFing the book. She went from mad as hell to horny as hell on a dime, wrapping her legs around a perfect stranger like a love starved teenager, then back to mad as hell. I felt the characters we met in the rest of the book were too smart to act this way. (hide spoiler)]
I enjoyed this one. The suspense moved and kept me interested. I liked the writing and the pacing of the story, but not so much the romance. The hero goes from lust to FOREVER LOVE in a very short time. While we often get an HEA in a matter of weeks in romancelandia, I just didn't buy it here. I couldn't figure out why he loved her. I'm not sure he even knew what he was talking about. Also, the sex was described odd to me. The H's actions are described as "his rough hands" "his tongue stabbed into her mouth" and other similar descriptions. Now I never mind reading about kinky sex or passions getting rough (pounding into her and such), but for me this didn't read sexy. I almost felt like he was this inexperienced teen aged boy. We all remember those boys who pinched you and expected you to turn to mush. That's what I thought of. No idea why. So for me it just wasn't sexy.Aside from that though, this was a good book. I did enjoy it.
What do You think about Deadly Fall (2011)?
3.5 stars I've never read this author before and this was a free offering for my nook, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It's a reasonably solid Romantic suspense story. I tend to be very hard on this genre, and this one was good but definitely had some problems. Augusta is a professor of Art and when her soon to be ex-husband is thrown from a balcony, she is immediately a suspect. Nick, the detective who just happened to witness the death, is also instantly attracted to her which causes numerous complications. Augusta is an interesting woman and full of secrets. We are given few clues as to who would want her ex-husband dead. She tends to strike out on her own, which is always annoying and it never ends right. The writing is good and the story flows pretty quickly. The chemistry between Augusta and Nick is good if a little implausible. Overall, I would be happy to read something else by this author.
—~Leslie~
