Book Review, Excerpt and Giveaway: You're Not Safe (Texas Rangers) by Mary Burton

This is a solidly entertaining romantic suspense.

You're Not Safe (Texas Rangers)
by Mary Burton

• File Size: 1179 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1420125079
• Publisher: Zebra Books (March 25, 2014)
• Genre: Romantic Suspense
• My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
He Will Never Forget
The broken body hanging from a tree in Texas Hill Country. . .the frozen figure huddled in a meat locker. . .only at second glance does the truth become apparent. What seems like suicide is far more sinister, and the terror is only beginning...
Never Forgive
One devastating moment changed Greer Templeton's life and ended two others. Now, with a body found on her property and Texas Ranger Tec Bragg on her doorstep, Greer's nightmare has returned. With each new victim, her link to Tec's case grows, and soon it will be too late to run.
And Never Let Them Live. . .
Greer hoped the past was behind her, but an obsessed killer has never forgotten the bond that unites them. One by one, he will track down his victims, finish what was started--and make Greer's dying wish come true. . .

Review:
Greer was only fifteen when an accident, while she was driving, resulted in the death of her brother and his girlfriend. The incident left her miserable with guilt and estranged from her mother who couldn’t forgive her. A failed suicide attempt placed Greer, then known as Elizabeth, in a rehabilitation facility for rich families who wanted to keep their problem children secret.

When Greer left Shady Grove her Aunt took her in and put her to work in her vineyard. Steady work and focus helped Greer move forward even though her pain and guilt has never really gone away. Now twelve years later she has started to step back into the world and she has agreed to host an event to raise funds for the local crisis center.

A few days before the party the police discover a man who has been hung on the edge of Greer’s property. Police call in Texas Ranger Tec Bragg who quickly picks up on clues that show this was murder, not suicide. There is a photo tacked nearby of the man when he was much younger with a haunted girl. Bragg is able to track down the dead man’s brother and learns that the picture was taken at Shady Grove twelve years earlier and the girl is Elizabeth, now Greer.

Bragg meets Greer because she has just agreed to hire Bragg’s shell shocked, sullen nephew, Mitch. Greer is also a suspect in the murder. Then a woman is found dead in a freezer. Greer hears about the death on the radio and goes to Bragg to explain that she thinks the woman was also a patient at Shady Grove twelve years before.

One by one the members of the Shady Grove pod are dying by unusual circumstances that tie to their youthful suicide attempts. Greer won’t give out the names of the others because they all promised silence. The home administrator also clings to a commitment to privacy so Bragg’s efforts to locate the other members, whether victims or killer, are hindered. Bragg has already developed an attraction to Greer and his concern for her safety is escalating. Can he uncover the identity of the killer before he strikes out at Greer?

There is mystery and suspense that carries this story forward at a good pace. There are a couple of twists to the killer that I didn't catch onto until later in the book. The romance element is nicely developed with two interesting characters. Although Greer has an injured soul she is now a determined young business owner. Bragg had a rough childhood family situation and has always held himself apart. Having a nephew to care for has turned his thoughts to family and his growing feelings for Greer have intensified those thoughts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this romantic suspense. It is a solidly entertaining read and I recommend this book and others by Mary Burton to those who like good romantic suspense.

I received this title for review and feature.

ABOUT MARY BURTON 
            New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Mary Burton has been intrigued by investigative work and the people who do it since Virginia, her home state, was stung by a string of serial killings that spanned more than twenty years.  Not surprisingly, many of her suspense novels are fueled by the acts of multiple killers and the people who pursue them, as is YOU’RE NOT SAFE, which completes the trio of stories set in and around Austin she began with The Seventh Victim and continued with No Escape.
            The author of twenty-one novels and three novellas, her earlier work includes I'm Watching You, Dead Ringer and Dying Scream, set in her home town of Richmond, and Senseless, Merciless and Before She Dies, set in Alexandria.
            Mary’s intensive research has led to meetings with key members of law enforcement, to seminars and classes, and to the firing range.  She is a graduate of the Henrico County Citizens Police Academy and the Richmond FBI Citizen's Academy, and has attended Sisters in Crime's Forensic University program and the Writers Police Academy in Jamestown, North Carolina.
            A Richmond native whose family roots run as deep as the nation's, Mary has lived there for most of her life.  She graduated from Virginia's Hollins University and had a career in marketing before deciding to write full time. Her first manuscript, a historical romance, was published in 2000.
            She is a member of Thriller Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She travels often for signings, speaking engagements and other appearances.  She is a frequent speaker regarding writing and genre fiction, and continues to present her "Unraveling Romantic Suspense" workshop and her day-long program "Writing Your Book...The First Step."
            Mary is currently finishing work on her new suspense novel, Cover Your Eyes.  The first of three thrillers set in Nashville, it is being published in November. In October her novella, A Ranger for Christmas, will be featured in the holiday anthology, Our First Christmas, along with works by Lisa Jackson, Mary Carter and Cathy Lamb. 
ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the gently used Print Copy from the publicist.

www.maryburton.com    http://www.facebook.com/maryburtonfanpage    www.kensingtonbooks.com

YOU’RE NOT SAFE

Mary Burton

Zebra Books/Mass Market Original/Fiction

April 2014/On Sale 3-25-14/$7.99 ($8.99 Canada)

978-1-4201-2507-8

EXCERPTED FROM MARY BURTON’S YOU’RE NOT SAFE

    As he approached the building, a woman pushed through the glass doors of the main entrance.  She wasn’t tall, barely standing over five feet, but she held her shoulders back and her clear green eyes cut.  Not more than thirty, she had gently tanned smooth skin that accentuated a high slash of cheekbones.  She wore her light brown hair in a braid that brushed slender shoulders, a white Bonneville Vineyards T-shirt billowing over full breasts and tucked into faded work jeans hugging gently rounded hips. Her boots were dusty, well-worn.  “Can I help you?”
     Her voice had a rusty, whiskey quality giving this wholesome farm girl a seductiveness enjoyed by older more sophisticated women.
     Elizabeth Templeton.
     She was a far cry from the girl in the old image or the pictures Rory had taken.  The last dozen years had leaned out her frame and face adding maturity and an appealing naturalness. But Rory’s picture images had gotten her all wrong.  What he’d taken for as anger and bitterness in the photos, in person, appeared to be a fascinating intensity.  He suspected this woman did no job halfway.
     “I’m with the Texas Rangers.”
     Elizabeth cocked her head, studying him close, as if sensing this place wasn’t his kind of place.  However, even as her gaze catalogued his large frame and the scar on his face she showed no fear.  “How can I help you?”
     He managed a smile.  “You Elizabeth Templeton?”
     Mention of her name triggered waves of tension that straightened her spine and narrowed her eyes.  Hesitation flickered as if she seemed to toy with a lie.  “That’s right.  But I go by my middle name now.  Greer.”
     Elizabeth Greer Templeton.  Greer.  The woman who’d offered his boy a job.  “Sergeant Tec Bragg.”

**********

     He studied her expression closely.  “I investigated a murder bordering your land yesterday.”     A hint of remorse darkened her gaze.  “I heard about that.  Some fellow hanged himself.” And then as if to head off his next question, “A cruiser came by yesterday and spoke to my farm manager while I was in town.  I’m supposed to call him back but haven’t gotten to it."
     “You hear anything else?”
     “No.  I don’t have time for gossip and news.  So if you’re here to ask me about the dead person I’m afraid I can’t do much for you.  I spend most of my days here working.  I don’t venture out much.”
     And yet you’d made your way into town yesterday to talk to my boy.  “I think you might know the victim.”
     “Could be, but I only know a handful of people in the area.”
     He studied her face closely.  “The victim’s name was Rory Edwards.”
     Irritation gave way to surprise.  Pursing her lips she drew in a deep breath, letting it out so slowly he barely saw her move.  “Is this some kind of trick?  Are you trying to prod information out of me because I hired your nephew?”
     “No trick.  The medical examiner confirmed the identity of the body yesterday.”
     She folded her arms over her chest.  “I’ve not seen Rory in a long time.  At least twelve years.”
     “You’ve had no contact with him in this time?”
     Her lips pursed.  “I had a message on my voice mail a week ago.  The caller said he was coming to see me.  He was an old friend.  I did not return the call.”
“Why not?”
Green eyes clouded before sharpening.  “Some matters are better left in the past.”
“I get the impression he still cared about you after all this time.”
She shook her head.  “I have no idea.”
“I searched his room last night.  He had a box full of recent pictures of you.”
Her face paled.  “I don’t know about that.”
“Can I ask how you two met?”
The grip on her biceps tightened.  “I get the sense you already know.”
Apprehension rolled off her and all but slammed into Bragg.  Rory Edwards and her past were sore subjects.  “Answer the question.”
She glanced around as if making sure no one was around.  “We met when we were teenagers.  We were both in a clinic for troubled teens.”
“You both tried to kill yourself.”
The lines in her forehead deepened.  “I’m not proud of that time, but what does it have to do with Rory’s death?  Like I said, I haven’t seen him in a dozen years.”
Bragg unclipped his phone and scrolled to the picture he’d taken of the photo found at the crime scene.  He held out the phone, coaxing her closer toward him.  “You remember this picture?”
She didn’t approach right away but then moved closer.  The soft scent of soap rose up around her.  No flowery perfumes or exotic scents but simply clean soap.  His body tightened, unmindful of logic or reason.
For a long moment she didn’t say a word and then she cleared her voice.  “It was taken the last night we were both at the camp.  Rory left the next morning.”
“How’d he end up with the picture if he left?”
“I sent him a copy from camp.  I didn’t want him to forget me.”
“His brother said you wrote to him several times a week but Rory’s father threw out the letters.”
Her jaw tensed, and he suspected an old wound opened.  “I guess one letter made it through.”
“Rory never forgot you.”
She stepped back.  “I wish he had.”
“Why’s that?”
“Really, do you have to ask?  It was a painful time, and I’ve done my best over the last twelve years to forget about it.”
He locked his phone and tucked it back in its cradle.  “Were you really able to forget?”
She cleared her throat.  “Rory’s family did us a favor by keeping us apart.  But the rest?   No, I have not forgotten that I wrecked a car and killed my brother and his girlfriend.  I ruined so many lives.  I carry that with me every day.”
“That why you tried to kill yourself?”
© 2013 Mary Burton YOU’RE NOT SAFE

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