Veil of Night

Linda Howard

Jaclyn Wilde and her mother own a prestigious wedding planner company in the Atlanta area. Due to some miscommunication, they have six weddings schedule for the week. Before the madness of rehearsal dinners and weddings begin, Jaclyn has a meeting with a true Bridezilla. Carrie Edwards is marrying the local senator's son. One of her joys in life is to make everyone jump to her whims. To add to her enjoyment, she'll purposefully change her mind just to annoy others.

When Carrie starts giving the vendors problems, Jaclyn gets tired of it and stands up to Carrie. Carrie slaps her face and fires her. Jaclyn sends the vendors away, gives Carrie a final piece of her mind now that she can speak freely without "being polite for the customer's sake". Then she stalks out. a while later the owner of the building goes out and finds Carrie dead on the floor. There were a lot of witnesses who saw their argument. As far as they know, Jaclyn was the last person who saw Carrie alive.

Jaclyn had met Eric Wilder the day before the fight. She and Eric are immediately attracted - clear to her bedroom. The next day, he is the detective assigned to Carrie's murder. Although he is certain Jaclyn is innocent, he has to go by the book. In fact he has to be more strict because his boss knows he and Jaclyn have a connection. He wants to explore their relationship but can't let her know that until he can officially rule her out as a suspect.

All Jaclyn knows is that this frustrating, attractive detective is annoying her and keeps questioning her. She's too busy this week to deal with him. She gave him answers and the clothes she was wearing when she met with Carrie. What more does he want? But when someone shoots at her, she's glad to have him around.

Veil of Night is fun because of the weddings that happen that week. The best one is where the bride and groom have their rehearsal dinner in a barbecue bar. There is the ring bearer who wears a football helmet down the aisle as well. Linda Howard shows the different sides of the wedding business - meeting and placating vendors, dealing with Bridezillas, keeping children safe, and providing the perfect wedding - in the bride's eyes, anyway, even if the planner doesn't always agree.

The mystery is fairly straightforward - predictable once the proper suspects are introduced. Eric figures it out quickly - but with no evidence he can't accuse anyone. The mystery is part of the story, Eric and Jaclyn's relationship is the focus.

Unfortunately Howard has given in to the current phase of more language than is needed, as well as the constant erotic thoughts and actions. Yes, that is the norm for the genre these days. The story is good entertainment but not spectacular. Have fun, enjoy the relationship, and laugh at Eric.

Notice:  Explicit sexual content, Strong indecent language