DNF: Dangerous by Diana Palmer

From the author's website:
Tall, lean and headstrong, FBI agent Kilraven lives by his own rules. And one of those rules includes keeping his hands off Jacobsville’s resident sweetheart, Winnie Sinclair, no matter the temptation. Shy and innocent, Winnie couldn’t handle a man like him—a merciless man with a haunted past. And this small town may hold not only the woman he fights to resist, but the answers to a cold case that is very personal to Kilraven....

Winnie has had her own share of sorrow and senses Kilraven’s pain. Even though she tries to deny it, the gentle 911 operator feels a connection with the darkly handsome agent. When he makes the disturbing discovery that her family’s unsavory past might have a bearing on his case, Winnie is determined to help him crack it...and the ice around his heart.

As they combine forces in a dangerous investigation, the stakes rise ever higher. Winnie’s life is on the line, and she’ll need Kilraven more than ever. But if they are to have a future together, her ruthless Texan will need to confront his past and risk it all for their love.


I hadn't read anything by Diana Palmer before I got this book, but I'd heard good things about her books and the blurb looked good so I was looking forward to reading this. This book is part of her Long, Tall Texans series.

Winnie Siclair is the heroine, a 911 dispatcher who pines for FBI agent McKuen Kilraven. Kilraven is tall, dark, and glowering. We learn he had a family who were murdered and the case was never solved. Winnie has her own dark history - her mother left them when she was 10 and her father physically abused her as a result.

I wanted to care about these two, really I did. But I didn't. There were so many
characters I couldn't keep up with who was who, and how they were all related was a bit confusing. Kilraven was cold and then hot and then cold again with Winnie - I didn't feel like there was any rhyme or reason to his actions. The murder mystery portion of the story was also confusing. I felt like I needed a spreadsheet with lines and arrows on it to follow along. When Kilraven proposed marrying her for the weekend so they could have sex while on an assignment and divorcing her once it was over (knowing she's a virgin and that she has a huge crush on him) - that's where I put it down for good. Now, maybe Ms. Palmer worked that storyline into something great, but my distaste for Kilraven and my apathy towards Winnie prohibited me from continuing any further.

I've heard wonderful things about Ms. Palmer's writing, so I will probably try something by Ms. Palmer in the future, but I think I'll need to start with an earlier title or go with a stand-alone.

This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.