ARC Review: Seconds to Live by Melinda Leigh

Seconds to Live
Author: Melinda Elliot
Series: Scarlet Falls (Book 3)
Publication: Montlake Romance (June 28, 2016)

Description: Wildlife biologist Mac Barrett avoided his hometown of Scarlet Falls for years—too many bad memories. But when he receives the news that his father is dying, he rushes home only to discover he’s too late. Shaken, Mac retreats to his remote cabin seeking peace and solace. Instead, he crashes his jeep to narrowly avoid running over the naked body of a woman lying in the road. Even more disturbing, when he regains consciousness, the body is gone.

Police detective Stella Dane wants to believe Mac, even if his story about the vanishing body seems far-fetched. But when Mac’s description matches the missing woman she’s been searching for, it raises a disturbing question: How does a dead body disappear?

Mac and Stella will have to work together to find the answer and catch a psychotic kidnapper—and quickly. The killer has a deadly message to send, and the case is about to become personal…

My Thoughts: Mac Barrett is back in Scarlet Falls because his father has died. He left the Amazon jungle with a bullet wound in his side and a dead partner. Besides the emotional stress of dealing with is feelings about his father, he also walks into a crime scene. While on the way to his cabin, he swerves to avoid hitting a naked woman on the road. When he regains consciousness, she is gone. Stella Dane believes him when he tells her about the woman. She had just that day been called in because a woman was reported missing.

Someone is killing young women and leaving their staged bodies in public places. What they seem to have in common besides a general physical resemblance is that they were all dealing successfully with drug addictions. There are a number of suspects from the creepy guy who hangs around outside the church where Narcotics Anonymous meets to the husband of victim number two.

Stella and Mac work together to try to find out who the killer is. Along the way, they fall in love. When a young friend of Stella's - another former addict - disappears, pressure increases to find the killer before he kills again.

This is a very enjoyable romantic suspense series. It was good to catch up with Mac's brother and sister and see how the relationships that began in earlier books are progressing.

Favorite Quote:

Stella opened her car door. "Follow me."

But Mac's engine started with a throaty rumble, drowning out her words. He roared out of the parking lot, and Stella rushed to catch up. Driving after him, she sincerely hoped this was not an indication of how well she could keep Mac Barrett under control.

I got this eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.