"Recommended for fans of romantic suspense, paranormals, and horror."

When a member of the local neo-Nazi Christian fundmentalist militia, the Brotherhood of Freedom, is found beaten to a bloody pulp, Sheriff Doug Brewster knows it's not gonna be a good day. Half the town belongs to the group, and he knows there will be a lot of pressure. If that wasn't enough on his plate, his proper, deeply religious mother is pushing him to marry, while his football coach father withdraws even further into playbooks and tapes of past games. Desperate to find the killer, Doug sends a deputy undercover into the militia - and learns that Reverend Chuck, the group's founder, has spotted his ringer and is willing to cooperate to find the killer, because he strongly suspects treachery from within.

Meanwhile, Doug's old friend Josie Galloway, owner of the town's New Age store and Wiccan High Priestess, is having dreams so troubling that she ends up falling out of bed - but cannot recall what she dreamed, only a feeling of horror. She notices that she has a bruise on her chest in the shape of a triskele, an ancient Celtic symbol. The dreams reoccur, night after night, and the bruise doesn't fade. Desperate, she talks to her best friend Arden, and is overheard by Doug. Realizing that somehow Josie is tied into the murder, Doug joins forces with her to catch the killer. Spending so much time in each other's company awakens the mutual attraction both had been fighting, and they become lovers. But Josie has a secret she is forced to reveal: she testified against a mobster years ago, and is in the Witness Protection Program, which comes out after Doug, intending to eliminate her as a suspect, has her fingerprints run through the F.B. I database. Unfortunately, this alerts the very man she is hiding from - and Josie ends up seeking protection at the compound of the Brotherhood, where she stumbles onto a dangerous secret.

This is a nice, taut thriller with an interesting use of Wiccan magic and belief, presented with reasonable accuracy (as a Wiccan for 30 years, it's nice to see a writer get it right for a change). Doug, the pragmatic, cool-headed sheriff, is an appealing man, rational but not so stubbornly mundane as to utterly write off Josie as a crackpot. (Ever noticed how many TSTL heroes there are in books with witch heroines? No matter how obvious it is that the heroine has abilities beyond those of normal humans, they STILL refuse to see the truth). Doug has his own guilty secret, and a mother who's an absolute horror. Magical Josie isn't a stereotyped witch, but an intelligent businesswoman with a painful past. Ruled by the Wiccan Rede("Do what thou will, an it harm none"), she is still practical enough to act aggressively when necessary, albeit with a strong concern for her principles. The Brotherhood and its dark beliefs are accurately portrayed (I've visited enough neo-Nazi hate sites to know just how believably these guys are depicted),yet Reverend Chuck is more than just the standard cartoon bad guy. The plot is suspenseful, with enough twists to keep you guessing, though I will confess I guessed the identity of the thoroughly nasty Big Bad several chapters before it was revealed. While there aren't a lot of love scenes, the ones that are there are sensual and well-written, steamy enough to make you fan yourself.

I can strongly recommend this as a fun read for fans of romantic suspense, paranormals, and horror alike. I'll definitely keep my eye on this writer, and I plan to read the prequel to this, The Summerlands.

Sensuality Guide: some steamy mongamous love-making.

Reviewed by Gillian Fitzgerald
Courtesy Sensual Romance Reviews
Posted March 10, 2004

Summary

Sheriff Doug Brewster's peaceful life is torn apart when a local militia member is found murdered and marked with a ritualistic bruise. While disturbing, he handles it as he would any other case, until he discovers his best friend, Josie Galloway, shares the same bizarre mark.

Josie is happy to accept her role as the local 'color'--as a Wiccan Priestess she expects no less. But when she begins to share the dreams of a dead man--and the Celtic symbol that marked him in death--she begins to fear for her own sanity.

Joining forces, they dodge a sadistic killer from Josie's past and unravel the tangle of secrecy and lies behind the Nazi-driven ideals of a white supremacist cult. What neither of them bargains on are the dark secrets they will uncover or how their feelings for each other will change from friendship to something far more powerful.