Scarlet Nights by Jude Deveraux

From Goodreads:

What if you learned that your fiancé was not who he claimed to be? 

Engaged to the charming and seductive Greg Anders, Sara Shaw is happily anticipating her wedding in Edilean, Virginia. The date has been set, the flowers ordered, even her heirloom dress is ready. But just three weeks before the wedding, Greg gets a telephone call during the night and leaves without explanation. Two days later, a man climbs up through a trapdoor in the floor of Sara’s apartment, claiming that he is the brother of her best friend and that he’s moving in. While Mike Newland is indeed telling the truth about his identity, his reason for being there reaches far deeper. He’s an undercover detective, and his assignment is to use Sara to track down a woman who is one of the most notorious criminals in the United States—and also happens to be the mother of the man Sara plans to marry. 

Mike thinks the job will be easy—if he can figure out how to make a “good” girl like Sara trust him, that is. But Mike has no idea what this mission has in store for him. He’s worked hard to keep private his connections to Edilean, which date back to his grandmother’s time there in 1941. But as Mike and Sara get to know each other, he can’t help but share secrets about himself that he’s told no one else. And in return, Sara opens up to Mike about things she could never reveal to Greg. As the pair work together to solve two mysteries, their growing love begins to heal each of them in ways they never could have imagined.

This is part of a series of books in which I have only read The Scent of Jasmine. You do not have to read any of the others as each book is a stand-alone but connects through the small town of Edilean, VA. So... HA! I wasn't being as strange as I usually have been in reading out of order. ;)

Anyhoo...

Edilean is a very small town in which everyone knows everyone else. If they aren't related to one another, then they have known each other since birth. They are not opposed to "outsiders" but are very protective of one another as well as the town's history. So, when Sara Shaw gets engaged with Greg Anders, a man that no one in the town likes, Sara sees a conspiracy from the town to rid her of Greg. This doesn't bode well for Mike who has to use Sara and seduce her away from Greg to catch the mother/son criminal team. Sara is not dumb and figures out what her best friend's brother is up to right away. This frustrates Mike but makes him more curious about Sara. However, no one can figure out why Greg wants to marry Sara. They know he intends on killing her, but for what? As this mystery lingers, Mike and Sara really get to know one another and start to fall for each other.

I did enjoy this romantic mystery. Yes, there were times where I questioned if the two characters would really mesh, but it didn't feel too odd either. My biggest complaints were more about the descriptions of the characters. Sara was often described as old fashioned, but her attitude displayed anything but being old fashioned. Mike was also described as balding and not handsome, but other times had a full head of hair and was smoking hot. So, there were times I was confused. The characters in my head changed form and there were no shifters in the book that I was aware. Other than that, the mystery was well played and some of the secondary characters actually became very interesting to me (the Frasier boys... oh, I want to meet them! rawr!). So, I give this book 3 stars and recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery romance.

I was given this book from the publisher and no compensation for my review was given.