DEADLY DESIRE

Author: Keri Arthur ISBN: 9780553591156 4/2009 PARANORMAL Publisher: BANTAM SPECTRA

Seduction that kills. Pleasure to die for. She just can’t resist . . . Guardian Riley Jenson always seems to face the worst villains. And this time’s no different. For it’s no ordinary sorceress who can raise the dead to do her killing. But that’s exactly what Riley expects to find at the end of a trail of female corpses used—and discarded—in a bizarre ritual of evil. With pressure mounting to catch one fiend, another series of brutal slayings shocks the vampire world of her lover, Quinn. So the last thing Riley needs is the heat of the upcoming full moon bringing her werewolf hormones to a boil—or the reappearance of a sexy bounty hunter, the rogue wolf Kye Murphy. Riley has threatened Murphy with arrest if he doesn’t back off the investigation, but it’s Riley who feels handcuffed by Kye’s lupine charm. Torn between her vamp and wolf natures, between her love for Quinn and her hots for Kye, Riley knows she’s courting danger and indulging the deadliest desires. For her hunt through the supernatural underworld will bring her face-to-face with what lurks in a darkness where even monsters fear to tread.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Keri Arthur sets her paranormal romance, DEADLY DESIRE (Riley Jenson Guardian Book 7), in a futuristic Melbourne where Riley Jenson is a Guardian with the Directorate, helping maintain the peace between humans and vampires. She is half vampire and half werewolf, which allows her to work the day shift. It also creates tension in her life because though she has a very loving relationship with centuries old Quinn, her vampire boyfriend, the wolf within her still seeks her soul mate. Riley is up against two different series of killings: teenagers being snuffed by zombies and very old, very wealthy vampires being beheaded and their safes being looted. Is it one case or two? Riley finds that she’s at times helped, while feeling hindered in her investigations by a bounty hunter werewolf named Kye. She’s come up against the sexy wolf before and didn’t like him then, ether.

Arthur has definitely set up a supernatural setting that works well for these plots. Melbourne has never looked darker or more dangerous. Riley has her hands full with multiple murders and her sense of smell is in overdrive. She can sense not only the trail of decaying flesh the zombies are leaving behind, but two distinct magic trails. At the teen killings, she senses an angry magic, whereas at the vamp slayings the magic tingling her nose is more seductive with an undernote of roses. And then there’s the scent of Kye fighting to hide his arousal whenever he comes close to Riley. This tale is filled with death, violence, dark magic and raw sex. Riley yearns for the sweet loving she gets with Quinn, and with billions of dollars to lavish on Riley and her desires, Quinn sounds like the perfect lover. So why does she continue to sexually play and tease with Kye?

DEADLY DESIRE is truly about desire. Desire for vengeance. Desire for sexual satisfaction. Desire for justice. Desire for a soul mate. Readers who love to mix up their vamps and wolves will relish this newest entry in Arthur’s series. I haven’t read any of the previous books in the series, and had no problems with understanding any bits from the past which return to haunt Riley Jenson.

Susan Barton