Blog Tour: Midnight Girl by Nora LeDuc (Review, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Midnight Girl by Nora LeDuc

GENRE: Mystery/Romantic Suspense

BLURB:

When a teenager mysteriously disappears in Hawick Falls, New Hampshire, Lisa Raynes fears her kidnapper, who recently escaped from prison, is hunting girls again. She also believes he’s targeted her for his next victim when she receives a threatening message. To add to her problems, her ex-boyfriend Travis Bodell, nephew of her captor, shows up in town. Five years ago, he promised to love Lisa forever, but he left her to start a new life. Trusting him was a mistake she will never repeat.

Bad boy Travis Bodell has a history of run-ins with the law. The police suspect he came back to aid his uncle, not to warn Lisa she’s in danger. With the investigation going nowhere, Travis focuses on Lisa who identifies with the missing teen and wants to find her. To keep Lisa safe, he offers to help her search. She refuses until loving memories of their past surface, and she finally accepts his proposal. Working together arouses strong feelings of attraction that neither will admit.

As time runs out for the kidnap victim, disturbing threats against Midnight Girl, Lisa’s online name, grow. She realizes the only way to stay alive is to open her heart and put her faith in Travis, but can she let go of her doubts and lingering hurt? Can the couple join forces and win against a cunning criminal fueled by hate?

Excerpt:

Lisa parted her lips to say something. Maybe she was going to protest about his wet clothes. No. He’d had enough talking. He bent and touched her mouth. He meant it to be a quick, stolen kiss, but as soon as he tasted her he wanted more. This might be his only chance.

She gripped his shoulders before her arms slid around him, tightening as though afraid he’d disappear. Forever they stood their tongues tangling together until he could take no more of the heat, the urgency. His fingers were entwined in her hair holding on to her. Never letting her go. The need to run his free hand over each part of her body and listen to her gasps grew into full-blown lust.

“Upstairs,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Three floors?” She tipped her head back and raised her brows.

“Right.” Five years. Five years without her. He fisted the ends of her white button-down shirt in both his hands before whipping it open. Buttons popped off and dinged on the wooden surface. Underneath she wore a blue lacy bra.  

Banks’s entire unit couldn’t stop him now. He yanked off her top, tossed it aside, and swallowed to keep his tongue in his mouth. “Way too far.” He lowered Lisa stared up at him. Her brown eyes were full of questions and a sadness he longed to erase. Had she thought of him much during the years he’d been away?

She parted her lips to say something. Maybe she was going to protest about his wet clothes. No. He’d had enough talking. He bent and touched her mouth. He meant it to be a quick, stolen kiss, but as soon as he tasted her he wanted more. This might be his only chance.

She gripped his shoulders before her arms slid around him, tightening as though afraid he’d disappear. Forever they stood their tongues tangling together until he could take no more of the heat, the urgency. His fingers were entwined in her hair holding on to her. Never letting her go. The need to run his free hand over each part of her body and listen to her gasps grew into full-blown lust.

“Upstairs,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Three floors?” She tipped her head back and raised her brows.

“Right.” Five years. Five years without her. He fisted the ends of her white button-down shirt in both his hands before whipping it open. Buttons popped off and dinged on the wooden surface. Underneath she wore a blue lacy bra.  

Banks’s entire unit couldn’t stop him now. He yanked off her top, tossed it aside, and swallowed to keep his tongue in his mouth. “Way too far.” He lowered them to the floor.

Rating: 4 stars

Midnight Girl is the fourth book in Nora LeDuc’s Love & Mystery in the 6-oh-3 series. I always recommend reading all books in a series for maximum enjoyment - with this one you definitely have to read books one and two first. The third book isn’t really tied to the storyline in the fourth, but the first two are.

We met Lisa and Travis early in the series and they have quite a history, which is why it’s important to read the first book, at least. Lisa appears to have gotten her life together after everything she experienced, but the reality is that appearances are deceiving. She’s comfortable in the familiar but struggles with anything outside that safe bubble. She still has a lot of scars to overcome. And, all of that comes to the surface when one of her kidnappers escapes from prison and is set on revenge. No matter how much Travis hates the town he grew up in and finally escaped, he has to go back to help protect Lisa when he knows she’s in danger. Though both Lisa and Travis are in their early 20s, their actions didn’t show that - they were impulsive and placed themselves in danger many times.

As with the other stories in the series, it’s very fast paced with a lot of action. The mysteries aren’t very mysterious in my opinion. Reading each of these books I knew the culprit before the end, but that doesn’t really ruin the mystery of the story, in my opinion. There’s always lots of things happening, many of which may make you rethink who the bad guy is, but pay attention and you’ll know all the angles! Well, if you’re one of those people who like to figure out all the secrets before they’re revealed, that is.

There were a couple of things that kept me from loving this series. The females in the story: they’re all indecisive, easily influenced, and frightened of their shadows - well, most of them, until this book and Mrs. Ferani. With Lisa it was understandable but I had really hoped to see that she was stronger.

I loved Mrs. Ferani! Some of the other women in this series could have used her spunk and backbone! With that said, though the women annoy me, when it comes to the pivotal moment in the story, they do stand and don’t cower waiting for saving.

If you love mysteries, you should definitely check out this series! Each of these stories has a couple who find a HEA, but that’s a really small part of the story and does not make these a romance. Seriously, don’t go into this looking for a romance, these are mystery books. And, if it makes a difference to you, there are some elements of religion in this series. The first three books had a lot more than this one, but it’s certainly present. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this series for lovers of mysteries.

**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure in hope of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Nora grew up in rural New England and still lives here. She has enjoyed combining my love of true crime shows with her imagination to produce romantic suspense and mysteries that you keep you guessing.

You can find Nora on her website: NoraLeDuc.com,

Facebook: Nora LeDuc-author,

Amazon

Nora LeDuc will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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