Just Another Manic Monday

Oh great now I am going to have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day and I don't have anyone to blame but myself. LOL For you regular followers my daughter made it back from Florida and had a fabulous time, and as you can see I survived as well, but just barely....I missed her!!! So basketball season is over and baseball season hasn't quit started yet(I'm not counting registration)so it's that limbo time where I feel like I am supposed to be somewhere but I'm not, but shhhh don't tell anyone because they might come up with someplace for me to be. If you have not figured it out yet the is Nikki Duncan's Sensory Ops week . WOO HOO Welcome Nikki!!! I met Nikki a few years ago at RAW and I happen to think she is one of the nicest, funniest people around, so if you have not read her books now would be a great time to start. The first book in the series is Sounds to Die By and that would be where we will begin this week.

Sounds to Die By, Nikki Duncan, Samhain Publishing, October 2009
Rookie FBI Agent Kieralyn Beckett is in a delicate position. Her team refuses to buy into her theory that a string of kidnappings is connected. If she pushes too hard, they’ll discover the latest victim was her college roommate and boot her off the case. A garbled recording is the only evidence, and there’s only one man who can decipher it. The hard part will be convincing him to take the case.
Blinded as a child, NSA “listener” Ian Cabrera spends the majority of his time analyzing data while secretly searching for his father, a missing CIA operative. His plate is full, but Kieralyn’s passion and determination, as well as the erotic beat of her heart, spark his interest. So does the mention of his father’s code name on her recording.
There’s only one way to follow this new crumb-trail of clues without tipping her off about what he’s really after. Convince her she needs him to be her undercover partner, despite his handicap. Between her eyes and his ears, they make one beautifully orchestrated team. Every time they touch, though, the arousal they generate creates one red-hot element of distraction…

When Kieralyn Beckette's best friend disappears and the only clue is a bad recording she won't take no for an answer from NSA listener Ian Cabrera. She needs his help to prove that her friend is part of a kidnapping ring. Her FBI team won't beleive the kidnappings are connected and he is her only hope of convincing them that they are. She is determind to have him listen to the recording to find the evidence that she needs to convince her team before they realize that she has a personal interest in the case. So she sweet talks her way past Ian's security and finally convinces him to listen to the recording. He helps her break down the converstions on the recordings but Kieralyn knows he is holding something back.

When Ian Cabrera agrees to help Kieralyn with her recording he had no idea how it was going to change his life. While listening he hears the name "El Dogo" which was his fathers undercover name before he went missing, and was presumed dead, several years before. Ian can't believe his father would be involved in a human trafficking ring but he also never thought his father would just leave his family. Instead of giving all of the information to Kieralyn he decides to investigate it himself.

While both characters are incredibly independant they cannot ignore the instant and mutual attraction they have for each other. But the questions is...can they trust each other enough to solve this case and take their attraction to the next level?

I enjoyed this book for several reason. The first was the very well thought out story that is full of action and suspense. The second was the development of the realtionship between the characters, I loved that Ian was first attracted to Kieralyn because of her heartbeat. The incredibly descriptive way that Ms. Duncan writes about the way that Ian "sees" was very believeable and added so much to the story line. We get enough information about the secondary characters that you want to read about what happens next for all of them. Great first novel and I couldn't wait to read the next one. I give Sounds to Die By 5 chocolate dipped strawberries.