Fatal Strike by Shannon McKenna (thoughts)

Fatal Strike is my first read by McKenna but it definitely won't be my last.  I just wish that I would have started at the beginning of this series as I think that it would have really added to my reading experience!  That being said it was a fun way to pass a few days, and I'm eager to read more!

In Fatal Strike, Miles Davenport is having really intense and weird dreams that all center around a missing girl that he is looking for.  He is also struggling to deal with the new psychic abilities that he got unexpectedly (from a previous book I'm assuming).  He is no position to really help anybody since he can't even seem to help himself but Lara Kirk's disappearance pulls at him.  And then he finally finds that one lead that can help him to figure out where she is.  But will he really be able to keep Lara safe from the ones that have been holding her captive?

I seem to have been on a mission lately to find some good romantic suspense!  This one definitely was what I was looking for although it wasn't a perfect read for me.  The good parts were the relationship between Miles and Lara.  I loved it!  I really enjoyed the instant chemistry that they had and was eager for them to fall in love.  They both had their own flaws and issues to overcome but together they really worked well!  That being said I would have liked to have seen more of this at times.  For instance, there was a strong emphasis on the feelings that developed for one another due to the dreams that they were having.  I would have loved if one of those dreams had really been included within the book (personal preference I know).  It didn't matter in the end though because I really liked them as a couple and wanted to see their happy ending.  The bad guys in this book were bad and totally creepy.  It made for a page turning read because all I wanted was for Lara to finally be safe from them.  I also really liked getting to know some of Mile's friends that I'm assuming have been featured in previous books in this series.  It makes me anxious to start at the beginning of this series and read more about all of these characters!

While I really enjoyed most of this book I did find that the book stalled out a bit for me in the middle.  I guess I was just impatient with wanting the happy ever after for Miles and Lara.  Miles was also a bit of a jerk at one point.  I just wanted to shake him and snap him out of it!  But even though I had a few quibbles with this book I overall really enjoyed it.  And it just made me want to read even more romantic suspense!

All in all, I ended up really enjoying this one!  It wasn't perfect but I think that is my own fault for reading the series out of order.  The chemistry was there, the suspense was there, and I'm definitely ready to read more by this author so that equals success for me!  I would recommend this one but with the opinion that you should probably start at the beginning with book one.

Bottom Line:  A suspenseful read that kept me intrigued but with a few flaws.

Disclosure:  I read a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.  Thoughts are my own!

On the romantic suspense front, what other authors do you guys recommend?  So far this year I've tried Shannon McKenna, Shiloh Walker, and Maya Banks.  Who else should I be reading and trying in this genre?  Because I NEED more books like this!  They are the perfect way to just lose myself for a short period of time :)