Series: Killer Instinct (Book 1)
Once the town troublemaker, Sheriff Hayden Black became the teen hero who saved young Jillian West from a savage kidnapper. He never got over their brief affair. Now the ex-SEAL and the burned-out FBI agent have reunited in their Florida hometown and rediscovered their powerful attraction. But as they hunt down a long-forgotten killer, will they get a second chance at happiness? When a series of accidents begins to plague Jill, Hayden won't let her fall victim again. There's too much history between them…and too much desire.
Good combination of second chance romance and suspense. As a teenager, Jillian had been kidnapped. Hayden had witnessed the abduction and saved her, going from town troublemaker to town hero in one evening. Jill and Hayden became good friends, and later much more. But he walked away to become a SEAL and Jill went on to become an FBI agent.
Ten years later Jill and Hayden are reunited when she returns to Hope, burned out on her job dealing with child abductions and still haunted by what had happened to her. She is determined to reopen the case and find the man who had kidnapped her and murdered another girl. She doesn't expect to find Hayden also back in town, now serving as sheriff. They hadn't forgotten each other, or their feelings and the attraction flared hot once again.
I liked both Jill and Hayden. Jill is smart, capable and very good at her job. Her past as a kidnappee has made given her extra motivation in her work but has also made some cases harder to bear than others. I ached for her and the pain she felt at each loss. Hayden was terrific. He is honorable, protective, and has a surprisingly soft heart. I loved how he had turned his life around when he met Jill, determined to be someone worthy of her.
I really enjoyed the rekindling of Jill and Hayden's relationship. It is obvious from the start that their feelings for each other had never died, in spite of the way they parted. Jill was broken-hearted when Hayden left, not knowing that he believed he wasn't good enough for her. Leaving was the hardest thing that Hayden had ever done, but he thought he was doing the right thing. I loved the bits about how they had kept track of each other over the years. With Jill's arrival back in Hope, Hayden sees it as a chance to show her that they belong together and that he isn't going to let her go. Jill is a bit more cautious, knowing that risking her heart again could have devastating consequences for her. As they worked together on the case, they also got to know each other again. I loved that they were able to talk about their past and make the decision to move forward and see where things go. I loved Hayden's big moment at the end - his vulnerability and nervousness were sweet and his words so heartfelt.
The suspense of the story was really good too. From the prologue to the conclusion, the intensity built steadily. Jill's determination to solve the mystery became stronger when she was attacked. The glimpses into the mind of the killer show that he is equally determined to finish what he started. I loved seeing the pieces start to come together and was on the edge of my seat as they raced to save another victim. Though I had figured out the bad guy, the final confrontation was intense in the way it happened.
I liked the support that Jill got from her friend Samantha. That woman was scary good at what she does. Besides her work on helping to identify the killer, I loved Sam's "profiling" of Hayden and her comments to him.
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