Shadow Dance

Julie Garwood

When Jordan is at the reception of her friend Kate's and her brother Dylan's wedding, two people stand out. She watches her brother Nick's FBI partner, Noah Claybourne, as all the women flock around him. To herself and Kate she calls them the NCGs - the Noah Claybourne groupies. He has been a friend of the Buchanan family for years and has helped them numerous times. The other is the strange man who shows up claiming he is a distant relative of Kate McKenna's. He is surprised Kate is marrying a Buchanan because there has been a feud between the two clans for hundreds of years, starting in the Scotland highlands because the "thieving Buchanans lied and stole from the McKennas."

Jordan is at loose ends. She just sold her computer business at a large profit. She is trying to decide what to do next. After a challenge from (of all people) that she never does anything on impulse, she decides to follow Professor McKenna to his home in Serenity, Texas, and look at his research before he leaves for Scotland.

Once she is at the small town in Western Texas, she isn't sure this was a good idea. Her car breaks down due to a radiator leak. She can't leave for another day. When she has dinner with the professor, she is even more put off. This disgusting man is related to her best friend? But she can copy his research and leave quickly. The next morning there is a bright spot when she visits the local diner. It is quickly put behind her, though, after she picks up her car. When she stops at the grocery store to finish her copying, she discovers the professor is in her car. Unfortunately he is dead in the trunk.

So Jordan calls her brother Nick, one of the family FBI agents. He and Noah quickly come to Serenity and find her in jail. The local police are responsible for the case and do not appreciate federal help. They are able to get Jordan released quickly but she has to stay in town. Nick has to return to Boston. Noah stays with Jordan until she is able to leave town.

But Serenity isn't done playing with Jordan. The next day it happens again - another body is found in the trunk of her rental car. What is going on? What was the professor doing? Why is Jordan a target?

Shadow Dance is another novel in the Buchanan family series that Julie Garwood has created. I expected a lot from it because we've met Noah several times in the series. He is the lady killer who is a charmer and a solid, good friend. We met Jordan in the last novel, Slow Burn, which is Kate and Dylan's story.

I admit I was disappointed. Both already developed characters had potential to come alive in this book, but they never do. The book is readable and the mystery is thought through. Shadow Dance doesn't jump away from its words. though. They pretty much stay on the page. I still recommend the novel as part of the series. But it doesn't reach the par of most of the earlier books in the series.

Notice: Non-graphic violence, Strong sexual content

Heartbreaker
Mercy
Killjoy
Murder List
Slow Burn
Shadow Dance
Shadow Music
Fire and Ice
Sizzle

Flash by Jayne Ann Krentz
Hot by Julia Harper