Cavanaugh Encounter

Good book with a mystery and an opposites attract romance that had me hooked from the start. It started with workaholic detective Frankie losing her only family member in a suspicious death. Certain that the drug overdose was a setup, she took it to Luke who was working a serial killer case with a similar MO. He’s not exactly thrilled to have her added to his team, but he’ll take whatever help she can give.

I liked both Luke and Frankie. Luke has a reputation in the department as a guy who works hard, but plays hard too, whereas Frankie just works hard. Her cousin was her only family, and Frankie is determined to do whatever she must to bring the killer to justice – even hide her connection to the victim. Luke senses that she’s hiding something and it doesn’t take him long to figure out what it is. I liked that he understood what it meant to her and kept her involved.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Luke and Frankie. The sparks were there right from the start. Luke gives her a bit of a hard time at first, and Frankie pushes right back. One of the things I liked about Luke was that he had a good work/play/family balance in his life, and it didn’t take him long to see that Frankie didn’t. The push and pull between them were great as the attraction heated up. I especially enjoyed seeing Luke “encourage” her to get away from work, from dragging her to Malone’s to getting her to one of Andrew’s get-togethers. It’s always an eye-opening occasion for the non-family loners to experience one of those, and Frankie was no exception. Her guard was down a bit by the time it was over, enabling the attraction between her and Luke to flare up. I loved watching them grow closer as the attraction continued to build. There were also some pretty sweet moments as Luke worked his way past Frankie’s walls. I especially loved the scene with the cupcakes. Frankie still has some trouble believing in forever when it applies to her, and she runs from her feelings for Luke. I liked his big moment at the end as he finally broke through all her barriers.

The mystery was an intriguing one as they looked for the serial killer. There was frustration at the beginning because of the lack of leads in the case. I liked how the fresh eyes that Frankie brought helped come up with some links between the victims. There was also good realism in the inclusion of the more mundane tasks of pursuing leads that are the less glamorous side of police work. Their frustration at the slowness of progress was evident, especially whenever there was a new victim. When Frankie proposed that she set herself up as bait, it was a desperate attempt to jumpstart their progress. I ached for Luke, who wanted to protect Frankie, while he also recognized the benefit of the plan. I was glued to the pages as it worked all too well, putting Frankie in extreme danger. The final confrontation was intense and scary, though I had to laugh a little at the way Frankie yelled at Luke at the end of it. There was also a pretty funny scene at the hospital, as evidenced by the head nurse’s comment, “Oh, dear Lord, they’ve brought us another one.”

I liked the secondary characters, especially Luke’s partner White Hawk. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if he was referee or instigator when he was with Luke and Frankie, but he was always fun. Various Cavanaughs make guest appearances, and I always like seeing them. Valri plays an important role with her computer skills as does Sean as CSI. I also had a great deal of fun seeing Luke with his mother and their whole conversation about her dating.