MINING EVERMORE

Author: Kathleen Rowland ISBN: 9781934475034 4/2007 PARANORMAL Publisher: AMIRA PRESS

Breezy black criminal attorney Tara Delacruz gets unpopular clients exonerated while her rival, the white-bread mayor and secret immortal, Cord Smith, wants them off his streets. Somewhere along their craggy coast, a fiend buries his victims at low tide at neck level. When the tide rises, they don't drown. Their town is spooked. Cord knows someone has found an evil use of immortality and believes the lawyer may have run across him. When he's forced to speak with her, he falls for the woman he censures. Bound to a secret conspiracy, he can't share everything, yet he warns her not to accept this twisted case.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Kathleen Rowland's new release is a paranormal thriller called MINING EVERMORE. Both a page-turner and seat gripper, this new release is a well-written story that will leave both romance and paranormal readers satisfied.

Rowland pulled no punches and started MINING EVERMORE in high gear. There's so much going on from the first page that you literally don't have time to even breathe until you've finished reading the book. The characters are introduced right away, their background isn't long and drawn out, and you know who they are and what their jobs are straight away. We find out who Tara Delacruz is, who and what Cordell Smith is, and what is going to bring these two opposite people together.

Cord is the Mayor of Landings Beach, California, and he is also an immortal. He's trying to investigate the gruesome happenings at his beach without bringing the townsfolk into a panic. Tara is a criminal lawyer who is not the most popular person in town, because her line of work deals with getting criminals off the hook. She knows about the happenings at the beach and, unfortunately, that brings her into contact with the devilishly handsome Cord.

Cord doesn't want Tara involved in the investigation, but he has a hunch that she might have come in contact with the perpetrator. Someone who knows that there are other immortals in the area committing these crimes on the beach. Cord's job is to find him before all hell breaks out. Even though Tara is good at what she does, he can't let her know all the details about the crimes and he can't let her get involved with the case. As the story progresses, and it certainly does, the relationship between Tara and Cord intensifies.

Both Tara and Cord are smart and well-written characters. Their romance is an added plus to this thrilling story. Rowland seamlessly combined an unique paranormal plot with a hot romance. MINING EVERMORE is terrific, and definitely worthy of Four Roses. I'm anxious to see what Kathleen Rowland will write next.

Julie Kornhausl