Review of Shades of Desire by Virna DePaul ~~

Shades Of Desire ~ Book 1 in the Special Investigations Groups Series

HQN - Now available on Amazon, B&N, Powell’s and Audible

Narrated by Ashley Adlon

 

Natalie Jones was once a famous photographer ~ but now, paralyzed by blindness that was brought on by a degenerative eye disease, Natalie is pretty much at a stand still in her life. Denying to herself that her blindness might be forever and that she's going to have change her way of living, Natalie has pretty much isolated herself ~~ until she walks in to her own home on what appears to be a burglary in progress and is almost killed.

State Special Agent Liam “Mac” McKenzie and his partner show up to interview Natalie when certain things about her case click with a case they've been working ~ a murder case. When Mac meets Natalie he's instantly and forcefully attracted to her ~ to the point he can't focus on anything else. Not realizing she's blind at first, he's suspicious why this woman is holding back and so abrasive w/ the cops.

The sparks fly instantly ~ while Natalie can't 'see' Mac, she drawn to his voice, but she's scared and confused as to why the cops are back ~~ until she realizes there is more to the simple break in that what she'd first thought.

This book was SO good ~ I listened to the audio version, and the narrator was a little slow in the narration, so I had to speed the narration up to 1.25, but then it was perfect! I so felt for Natalie, who had had her world turned upside down on her...then flipped on it's side. First, the blindness, then the break in and attempt on her life, then meeting this man she feels such a compelling pull towards. And she hadn't even begun to accept her blindness yet.

Mac is a gruff, in your face kind of guy ~ and his protective instincts have flared to life with Natalie, and it's hard for him to separate her as woman from her as a case. I LOVE that ~ and while he's really gruff at times, it was clear to me that even if he couldn't admit it to himself, he'd already decided on some level that Natalie was HIS.

When he discovers that there is actually a murderer trying to kill her, he just can't control his overbearing maleness, for lack of a better way to put it. He's a total Alpha in every sense of the word ~ And Natalie has teach him that he can't run her life.

I enjoyed this book immensely, and cannot WAIT for book 2 ~~ if you're a fan of romantic suspense, Alpha heroes, and sexy romance, READ THIS!!