4.0
Playing with Danger
ByPublisher Description
Murder on the bayou
…forcing rivals to unite.
When a young woman is found in a Louisiana swamp, police detective King Randolph finds his investigation hindered by private investigator Lenore Martin. He’s loath to share this murder investigation with such a problematic person. But despite mutual distrust, they forge a combative alliance. Soon, as more bodies drop, heat rises between the partners. And grave danger threatens from every corner of New Orleans.
From Harlequin Romantic Suspense: Danger. Passion. Drama.
Feel the excitement in these uplifting romances, part of The Sorority Detectives series:
Book 1: Playing with Danger
…forcing rivals to unite.
When a young woman is found in a Louisiana swamp, police detective King Randolph finds his investigation hindered by private investigator Lenore Martin. He’s loath to share this murder investigation with such a problematic person. But despite mutual distrust, they forge a combative alliance. Soon, as more bodies drop, heat rises between the partners. And grave danger threatens from every corner of New Orleans.
From Harlequin Romantic Suspense: Danger. Passion. Drama.
Feel the excitement in these uplifting romances, part of The Sorority Detectives series:
Book 1: Playing with Danger
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesPlaying with Danger Reviews
4.0
“In Deborah Fletcher Mello’s romantic suspense novel Playing with Danger, detective King Randolph clashes with private investigator Lenore Martin over his murder investigation when a young woman's body is found in a Louisiana swamp. Mello’s vivid description, authentic and natural-sounding dialogue suiting her characters and New Orleans setting, descriptive world-building, and captivating storytelling drew me into the novel from the opening scenes. Her characters are fascinating, deftly developed and evolved, imperfect, and relatable, which makes it easy to care about them and their lives.
At every turn, Lenora’s pushy and aggravating personality makes him reluctant to work together with her to solve his murder investigation—not that she gives him a choice in the matter. These two complete opposites with strong personalities clash from their first meeting, causing them to distrust each other’s motives initially. Nevertheless, to find a missing Black teen and the perpetrator of heinous murders of Black citizens, they reluctantly join forces. More murder victims’ bodies are discovered, and mutual dislike soon gives way to a shared, intense, fiery attraction for each other that can't be denied. Unknown forces threaten grave danger throughout New Orleans against King, Lenore, and other innocent citizens. While they work together to solve the case and fight their attraction, the desire, connection, and emotions they share deepen, and they begin falling for each other faster than either is prepared.
Mello develops her characters through emotionally intense, amusing, fiery, sexy, and steamy interactions. Lenore works as a PI for her family's private detective agency and gets involved with the case trying to help a family friend find her missing daughter. She’s prideful, controlling, stubborn, beautiful, and temperamental, and makes up her own rules. Lenore doesn't trust men or hold out much hope for meeting a man she not only likes and respects but could also love. King surprises her, slipping past her barriers with ease. He’s an intelligent, kind, honest, intuitive, and confident man with a dry sense of humor. From the moment he meets Lenore, he’s driven to know more about her because she fascinates him as much as she drives him crazy. She’s an enigma he can't resist trying to solve. I love King and Lenore’s snarky, sexy, funny banter and interactions. The power dynamic between them is interesting because, almost from the beginning, there is a struggle for dominance in their unlikely partnership. Both Lenore and King fear getting hurt, which makes them cautious about getting involved, especially with each other when their feelings and attraction are so intense.
Playing with Danger is sometimes quite dark and intense and explores disturbing content. But Mello balances these moments with humor and romance. Lenore’s relationships with her family and friends contribute to her character development and evolution. Likewise, King’s interactions with his father and co-workers contribute to his development and progression. Mello explores the impact of socioeconomics on criminal investigations, law enforcement, and criminal activity within the Black community with subtlety and nuance through the novel’s narrative and the characters. I’m intrigued by Mello’s storytelling and look forward to reading more of her romantic suspense novels.
Suspenseful, angsty, funny, steamy, sweet, sexy, and romantic, Playing with Danger is a dark, intense, fast-paced, character-driven read with surprising twists and turns. It explores themes of family, justice, self-discovery, family secrets, anti-heroes, trauma/PTSD, healing and recovery, falling in love, and learning to trust.
Advanced review copy provided by HARLEQUIN – Romance via Netgalley for review.”
“In Deborah Fletcher Mello’s romantic suspense novel Playing with Danger, detective King Randolph clashes with private investigator Lenore Martin over his murder investigation when a young woman's body is found in a Louisiana swamp. Mello’s vivid description, authentic and natural-sounding dialogue suiting her characters and New Orleans setting, descriptive world-building, and captivating storytelling drew me into the novel from the opening scenes. Her characters are fascinating, deftly developed and evolved, imperfect, and relatable, which makes it easy to care about them and their lives.
At every turn, Lenora’s pushy and aggravating personality makes him reluctant to work together with her to solve his murder investigation—not that she gives him a choice in the matter. These two complete opposites with strong personalities clash from their first meeting, causing them to distrust each other’s motives initially. Nevertheless, to find a missing Black teen and the perpetrator of heinous murders of Black citizens, they reluctantly join forces. More murder victims’ bodies are discovered, and mutual dislike soon gives way to a shared, intense, fiery attraction for each other that can't be denied. Unknown forces threaten grave danger throughout New Orleans against King, Lenore, and other innocent citizens. While they work together to solve the case and fight their attraction, the desire, connection, and emotions they share deepen, and they begin falling for each other faster than either is prepared.
Mello develops her characters through emotionally intense, amusing, fiery, sexy, and steamy interactions. Lenore works as a PI for her family's private detective agency and gets involved with the case trying to help a family friend find her missing daughter. She’s prideful, controlling, stubborn, beautiful, and temperamental, and makes up her own rules. Lenore doesn't trust men or hold out much hope for meeting a man she not only likes and respects but could also love. King surprises her, slipping past her barriers with ease. He’s an intelligent, kind, honest, intuitive, and confident man with a dry sense of humor. From the moment he meets Lenore, he’s driven to know more about her because she fascinates him as much as she drives him crazy. She’s an enigma he can't resist trying to solve. I love King and Lenore’s snarky, sexy, funny banter and interactions. The power dynamic between them is interesting because, almost from the beginning, there is a struggle for dominance in their unlikely partnership. Both Lenore and King fear getting hurt, which makes them cautious about getting involved, especially with each other when their feelings and attraction are so intense.
Playing with Danger is sometimes quite dark and intense and explores disturbing content. But Mello balances these moments with humor and romance. Lenore’s relationships with her family and friends contribute to her character development and evolution. Likewise, King’s interactions with his father and co-workers contribute to his development and progression. Mello explores the impact of socioeconomics on criminal investigations, law enforcement, and criminal activity within the Black community with subtlety and nuance through the novel’s narrative and the characters. I’m intrigued by Mello’s storytelling and look forward to reading more of her romantic suspense novels.
Suspenseful, angsty, funny, steamy, sweet, sexy, and romantic, Playing with Danger is a dark, intense, fast-paced, character-driven read with surprising twists and turns. It explores themes of family, justice, self-discovery, family secrets, anti-heroes, trauma/PTSD, healing and recovery, falling in love, and learning to trust.
Advanced review copy provided by HARLEQUIN – Romance via Netgalley for review.”
About Deborah Fletcher Mello
Deborah Fletcher Mello has been writing since forever and can’t imagine herself doing anything else. Her first romance novel, Take Me to Heart, earned her a 2004 Romance Slam Jam nomination for Best New Author, and in 2009, she won an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for her ninth novel, Tame a Wild Stallion. Born and raised in Connecticut, Deborah now considers home to be wherever the moment moves her.
Other books by Deborah Fletcher Mello
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