Yes, I confess I find it humorous to read a murder mystery written by a fictional character.  Like the competition in this business isn't difficult enough, now we authors are vying for shelf space against made up authors.  But kudos to whoever had the nerve to make it happen.

Plot-wise Naked Heat reads like an episode of ABC's Castle — of which I'm a fan.  God-wise Naked Heat lacks the spiritual depth in characters that I've come to enjoy in Christian fiction.  And to find at the end of the story that the villain's motivation was simply about money was a bit of let down after the twisted villains often found in Christian fiction — but not out of character for this story of fast-lane politicians, sports figures, and singers.

This is my second foray into the lives of Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook.  I've spent a few years with Kate Becket and Richard Castle, so it doesn't surprise me that I like the latter pair of characters more than the former.  But that Nikki Heat is a resourceful girl and she has impressive moments of ingenuity and strength in Naked Heat.

I also liked the one defining setting gimmick — a trash strike in New York City.

This is the first book in Lynette's Women of Justice series.  She's written some Love Inspired Suspense, but this is the first long book of hers that I've read.  I liked it.

The scenes in the villain's point of view were creepy and informative and amped up the suspense.

I liked both the heroine and the hero, probably Samantha a bit more than Connor, but even Connor's way of dealing with problems — running — didn't bother me too much because I knew he was going to have to get over it and grow from his issues.  Which he did.

And the topic — hmm — I've not read a book dealing with growing black-market babies for adoption, so I'm saying it is current and powerful.

Be prepared for the secondary characters to engage you enough to want to buy book 2.

I believe this is Susie's first published novel.  I'd read the 2nd in this series years ago, but never seemed to get my hands on Happily Ever After.  I picked it up on Kindle last month.

Simple romance, with plenty of angst and problems from the past, some problems in the present as the heroine attempts to set up her dream of a coffee house/bookstore, and the hero hires on as her handyman.  Of course he has issues of his own.  But it all turns out happily ever after.

Susan May Warren is a guaranteed good read in my book.  Try her stuff if you haven't.  She writes suspense as well as straight romance.