Cross Her Heart

A homicide detective’s violent family history repeats itself in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of murder, secrets, and retribution. For more than twenty-five years, Philadelphia homicide detective Bree Taggert has tucked away the nightmarish childhood memories of her parents’ murder-suicide…Until her younger sister, Erin, is killed in a crime that echoes that tragic night: innocent witnesses and a stormy marriage that ended in gunfire. There’s just one chilling difference. Erin’s husband, Justin, has vanished. Bree knows how explosive the line between love and hate can be, yet the evidence against her troubled brother-in-law isn’t adding up. Teaming up with Justin’s old friend, former sheriff’s investigator and K-9 handler Matt Flynn, Bree vows to uncover the secrets of her sister’s life and death, as she promised Erin’s children. But as her investigation unfolds, the danger hits close to home. Once again, Bree’s family is caught in a death grip. And this time, it could be fatal for her.

A homicide detective’s violent family history repeats itself in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of murder, secrets, and retribution. For more than twenty-five years, Philadelphia homicide detective Bree Taggert has tucked away the nightmarish childhood memories of her parents’ murder-suicide…Until her younger sister, Erin, is killed in a crime that echoes that tragic night: innocent witnesses and a stormy marriage that ended in gunfire. There’s just one chilling difference. Erin’s husband, Justin, has vanished. Bree knows how explosive the line between love and hate can be, yet the evidence against her troubled brother-in-law isn’t adding up. Teaming up with Justin’s old friend, former sheriff’s investigator and K-9 handler Matt Flynn, Bree vows to uncover the secrets of her sister’s life and death, as she promised Erin’s children. But as her investigation unfolds, the danger hits close to home. Once again, Bree’s family is caught in a death grip. And this time, it could be fatal for her.

This is the second book in the War of Her Heart Series, but could be read before book one. I recommend reading War of Her Heart first. In the kingdom of Joveryn, where witches are hunted and magic is forbidden, Bronwen and her twin brother, Adar, have spent their lives hiding their gift: the ability to siphon magic from others and wield it any way they see fit. With the feeling of magic coursing through her veins too intoxicating to ignore, Bronwen has found a way to fill that void. Hunting vampires and stealing their magic. But the night she encounters a vampire who doesn't beg, who doesn't fight-who simply smiles as she drains him-everything changes. He survives. And worse, he marks her. Now, bound by an invisible tether to a vampire who refuses to die, Bronwen is plagued by visions of his past victims, forced to live through their final moments. As their fates become entwined, she realizes that he is more than just a monster-he's something else entirely. With the lines between right and wrong growing ever thinner, Bronwen must decide if she will destroy the creature who haunts her . . . or forge an alliance that could change everything.

This is the second book in the War of Her Heart Series, but could be read before book one. I recommend reading War of Her Heart first. In the kingdom of Joveryn, where witches are hunted and magic is forbidden, Bronwen and her twin brother, Adar, have spent their lives hiding their gift: the ability to siphon magic from others and wield it any way they see fit. With the feeling of magic coursing through her veins too intoxicating to ignore, Bronwen has found a way to fill that void. Hunting vampires and stealing their magic. But the night she encounters a vampire who doesn't beg, who doesn't fight-who simply smiles as she drains him-everything changes. He survives. And worse, he marks her. Now, bound by an invisible tether to a vampire who refuses to die, Bronwen is plagued by visions of his past victims, forced to live through their final moments. As their fates become entwined, she realizes that he is more than just a monster-he's something else entirely. With the lines between right and wrong growing ever thinner, Bronwen must decide if she will destroy the creature who haunts her . . . or forge an alliance that could change everything.