In Innocent Prey (Brown and de Luca #3) by Maggie Shayne, Craziness seems to follow Rachel de Luca around like a bad penny. Just when she thought she and her love interest detective Mason Brown could settle into a somewhat healthy routine, a new kidnapping case presents itself. And this time 
Rachel’s senses are working overtime, even though she regained her sight a few months ago. She somehow not only has some precognitive ability, but is getting flashes of real time visions related to the case. Mason tries to placate her by saying it’s just her intuition, like a cop would use, but Rachel is concerned it might be something more.
‘His powers of perception were as good as mine used to be. My skills, however, had apparently been bitten by a radioactive spider.’
Rachel and Mason find themselves working with the Feds to solve the crime and have to tread carefully explaining where they get their leads. The case becomes more complicated trying to find the missing girls, and more personal, the further into their investigation they get. Mason does his best to keep Rachel out of harm’s way, but things escalate at an alarming rate. When the case is finally over, he hopes they’ll not only both be uninjured, but that they might be able to admit what they have growing between them.
“Do we have to tell the sexy Fed?”
“You think she’s sexy?” he asked, grinning.
“Don’t you?”
“Not half as sexy as you are, Rachel.”
“I wasn’t fishing for that. I don’t care about that.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Yeah, I do. Vanity, thy name is de Luca.”
Where has Brown and de Luca been all my life? After reading this, I have a feeling Maggie Shayne is going to become one of my go-to authors the way Molly Harper, H.P. Mallory, and Darynda Jones are, thanks to their quirky characters and comical situations.
Rachel de Luca and Mason Brown are definitely one of my new favorite book couples. For some reason I love the way they tap dance around defining their relationship. It seemed realistic to me how they were afraid that if they put a label on what they had that something bad would happen and change things. Given their history, that was a definite possibility. They had an easy rapport together that drew me in, and they complemented each other nicely while working on the kidnapping case. I got a kick out of Rachel’s potty mouth as it seemed to fit her character perfectly, especially when she labeled herself NFP, or Not Fu*#&ng Psychic. That was a pretty big point of contention with her throughout the story, which I found quite funny.
Before going any further, I will warn readers that it would be best to read these novels in order, where the story builds from one installment to the next. Otherwise, it may be difficult to understand why Rachel and Mason react the way they do in this book.
Mason was a down-to-earth, uber sexy, genuinely good guy who I thought was a great balance to Rachel’s almost otherworldly presence. I loved that he was doing right by raising his nephews (with a little guidance from Rachel) and that he knew how far to push her without scaring her away from their fledgling romance. But I thought it was also realistic that Mason had a bit of cynicism in regard to criminals being that he was a cop. He didn’t go into their investigation with blinders on and made sure that Rachel didn’t either. I have to admit it melted my heart a bit that he was almost as attached to Rachel’s English bulldog, Myrtle, as she was. And it wasn’t just because Myrtle was blind that I fell in love with her. It was how author Maggie Shayne described her doggie actions and Rachel’s devotion to her (which reminded me of my love for my cherished beagle, Mandy). Obviously Ms. Shayne isn’t a stranger to life with dogs that have a huge personality. 😉
If you’re a fan of well written snarky-but-emotional romantic suspense with a touch of paranormal, I highly recommend the Brown and de Luca series. I can’t wait to see what happens next between Rachel and Mason.
Book Info:
Published October 1st 2014 by Harlequin MIRA |Â (Brown and de Luca #3)
To save innocent lives, they’ll have to risk their own.
Self-help superstar Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown have finally given in to their overwhelming attraction to each other, but neither of them is ready to let physical passion turn into full-blown romance, so they carefully maintain an emotional distance. Then a judge’s daughter disappears, and Mason has a terrible sense that it’s connected to the most recent case they solved together: the abduction of Rachel’s assistant.
The discovery of a string of missing women—all young, all troubled—seems like a promising lead. But there’s no clear connection between the missing girls and the high-profile young woman Mason is trying to find. He realizes that once again he’ll have to rely on his own well-honed instincts and Rachel’s uncanny capacity to see through people’s lies in order to catch a predator and rescue his captives. But can they do it before Rachel becomes his next victim?
