Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized. Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly and efficiently, she is also a trained bodyguard and expert marksman - indispensable to her elderly employer, a courtly gentleman whom Sarah has come to respect and love.
Then one night she thwarts a burglary in progress, a courageous act that awards Sarah her requisite "fifteen minutes of fame" with the local press. But the exposure is enough to catch the attention of a tortured soul who, unbeknownst to Sarah, will stop at nothing to have her for himself.
Sarah's perfectly ordered life is shattered when tragedy strikes: her beloved employer is brutally murdered. The detective investigating the case assures Sarah that she is not a suspect. Until lightning strikes twice. There's a second killing - and this time, despite a lack of evidence connecting her to the crime, Sarah cannot escape the shadow of guilt.
The only option left for Sarah is to carry on with her life. But she doesn't realize that a deranged stalker is luring her into an elaborate trap...one in which she, once ensnared, might never escape. For Sarah soon finds herself at the mercy of a man who will tend to her every whim, smother her with affection, and crush her in his all-consuming embrace.
Can a tough, capable female butler/bodyguard find happiness in the arms of a jaded cop? Apparently, yes, many times and graphically. But Sarah is also being stalked by an obsessed and powerful sicko whose idea of foreplay is to kill her employers. Susan Ericksen's forthright reading elevates a too obvious plot while her agility with voices gives individual characters warmth and distinction. She seems to take charge of the script as Sarah takes charge of her life. Not even she, however, can keep a promising start from degenerating into a tangle of body parts and emotions. If you like your fiction hot and steamy, this is for you. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, Dying to Please, Open Season, Mr. Perfect, All the Queen's Men, Now You See Her, Kill and Tell, and Son of the Morning. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.
