Edilean is a very small town in which everyone knows everyone else. If they aren't related to one another, then they have known each other since birth. They are not opposed to "outsiders" but are very protective of one another as well as the town's history. So, when Sara Shaw gets engaged with Greg Anders, a man that no one in the town likes, Sara sees a conspiracy from the town to rid her of Greg. This doesn't bode well for Mike who has to use Sara and seduce her away from Greg to catch the mother/son criminal team. Sara is not dumb and figures out what her best friend's brother is up to right away. This frustrates Mike but makes him more curious about Sara. However, no one can figure out why Greg wants to marry Sara. They know he intends on killing her, but for what? As this mystery lingers, Mike and Sara really get to know one another and start to fall for each other.

I did enjoy this romantic mystery. Yes, there were times where I questioned if the two characters would really mesh, but it didn't feel too odd either. My biggest complaints were more about the descriptions of the characters. Sara was often described as old fashioned, but her attitude displayed anything but being old fashioned. Mike was also described as balding and not handsome, but other times had a full head of hair and was smoking hot. So, there were times I was confused. The characters in my head changed form and there were no shifters in the book that I was aware. Other than that, the mystery was well played and some of the secondary characters actually became very interesting to me (the Frasier boys... oh, I want to meet them! rawr!). So, I give this book 3 stars and recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery romance.

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great book in a great series, it just draws you right in!

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Scarlet Nights is a wonderful read. If you are a Jude Deveraux fan this is a book worth reading. I admire how she is always growing as an author by bringing out books like this. This book has classic Jude Deveraux style yet she gives us a fresh new book that has a detective twist in it. I also love how she makes this a more down to earth book with characters like Mike Newland, who is a detective from a big city and is a bald slick guy that draws you to him. I actually like how Deveraux in this book strayed away from the usual cookie cutter type heroes that sometimes can make it almost non realistic. I actually pictured two men while reading this book that I imagined as "Mike Newland", a Bruce Willis and a Jason Statham type men who although short and bald, still very manly and attractive. I like the contrast of Mike's character to Sara Shaw's character. Mike being from a big city contradicts well with Sara's small town sheltered personality. I love the detective twist to it that also brings about a fight scene in the book that involves the Vandlo con artist family.
Although a more modern setting/theme, like classic Deveraux, she always connects her settings and characters to historical places and dates in her books, which is clearly well researched by the author. All in all I thought this was a great book and hope Jude Deveraux continues to show different sides of the proficient author she is.

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One of my favorites~! I love that I cannot put her books down until the end.

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This story was - weird. Even for Jude Deveraux too cheesy and the story was highly unbelivable, so was every little side story in this book. From setting up the meeting between the two protagonists up to the reason why a worldwide searched for thief would set up a scam around the place. FBI investigation *huh*?
Jude Deveraux published a lot of very entertaining books, the one or the other faux pas like this here will be forgiven. One of her best, of course, "Knight in Shining Armor".

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The best of the Edilean series yet!

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Good read but not as good, in my opinion, as the other Edilean books.

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