(re-read for me) I remember I had just come off of reading her Delta Force Series and was looking for more Romantic Suspense books from her.. She came out with this stand alone book that just rocks.. Elise is a freelance reporter who was in Hong Kong and had not been able to reach her sister so she came back to the states and had just broken into her sister house when ex police officer and neighbor of Elise sister catches her breaking in.. The chemistry between these two is powerful right from the start.. This book doesnt make you guess who the killer is - you are right inside his head through out the book and get to experience his sick twisted crimes right along with him.. This book was high suspense from beginning to end.. After a 2 year hiatus (from her romantic suspense book) she is out with a new series called The Edge.


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Synopsis:
International journalist Elise McBride flies from Hong Kong back to the Midwest deeply worried about her artist sister Ashley. Ashley and Elise share the same beautiful looks, but while Elise is practical and responsible, Ashley is creative and flighty. So flighty that the local police don't take Elise's missing person complaint seriously.

But Elise is able to convince Ashley's neighbor, ex-cop Trent Brady. Though Trent suffers from post traumatic stress, he has confidence in his investigative skills and finds himself strangely protective of Elise. Together Trent and Elise enter the dangerous underbelly to search for clues to Ashley's disappearance. With a serial killer on the loose, the stakes have risen and Elise must decide how best to trap her sister's captor.

Review:
If you're looking for a romantic thriller and an escapist read, Love You To Death will not disappoint. The two lead characters, Trent and Elise, are interesting and sympathetic - you feel a connection to them. Building on each scene, Shannon K. Butler weaves the plot to a dramatic climax. This is my first time to read a Shannon K. Butler book and I am looking forward to reading more by her!

Publisher: Forever (October 1, 2009), 400 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher. ( )

This review was originally posted on my review blog : Falling Off The Shelf.

Ashley McBride is extremely talented. She's an artist, that at any moment will stop what she is doing to paint or draw a picture. She's sweet, bubbly, and trusting. She's also a complete scatterbrains, and now that she's gone missing, her big sister Elise is starting to worry.

Ashley always calls Elisa after going out on Friday nights to give her all the juicy details of her evening. This time, she doesn't call, and Elise is sick with worry. She tries calling Ashley multiple times, only to go to her voicemail, which is entirely unlike Ashley. She's convinced that her baby sister is in trouble, and she will stop at nothing to get her back.

Trent Brady lives across the street from Ashley. He likes the young girl, enough to do small chores around her house for her, and make sure no one tries to hurt her. When he notices someone trying to break into her house, his cop instincts kick in, even though he's been off the force for over two years. When the perpetrator turns out to be Ashley's big sister Elise, sick with worry over her sister, Trent makes it his duty to help her.

When I first started reading this book, it was difficult for me to get into. It seemed like your regular romantic suspense, and I was just waiting for something interesting to happen. I honestly can say that I didn't start to really enjoy this book until the author let us inside of both the killer and his victims heads. That was when I realised I had to stick around until the end.

Shannon K. Butcher's characters are very well rounded, and I felt a very real connection to some of them. I actually cringed a few times when reading the thoughts of the killer, and I wanted to wring his neck myself for the horrible things he was capable of. I was also on the fence about Elise, because while she is a strong character willing to do anything for the love of a sibling, she doesn't think about whether or not she will live through her own decisions to see her sister home safely.

As for the romance in this novel, it was definitely there. It started out slow, and slowly worked its way up. It was an intense romance, while still being appropriate for the situation they were both dealing with. I have a very vivid imagination, and the scenes, whether romantic or not, were very easily pictured in my mind. I will most definitely read more novels by Shannon K. Butcher in the future. I'd like to thank Anna Balasi of Hatchette books for sending me an ARC to review, she is always a pleasure to work with! ( )

There is a serial killer on the loose. This killer is unlike any others, who have come before him. He has a purpose. He wants to create the perfect woman. So how do you achieve the perfect woman…Or course by taking parts from various other women and piecing them together.

Elise McBride had a feeling that something had something horrible had happened to her sister, Ashley. She hadn’t heard from her in days. Elise called the authorities but Elisa got the impression that they aren’t taking her too seriously. Elise decides to hop on a plane and investigate herself on what has happened to Ashley.

Ex-cop, Trent Brady was just getting ready for bed when he spots a light flashing across the street in his neighbor’s house. He knows it can’t be his neighbor as Ashley has left. Trent’s cop instincts kick in and he goes to investigate and receives a huge surprise. At what Trent first thought was a teenage boy, turns out to be a woman. The police arrive and assure Elise that they will find her sister. Elise and Trent team up together to locate her sister before it is too late.

Love You to Death is dark and sinister. The tension runs high all the way till the very end. Elise and Trent molded well perfectly together. Elise had the brain smarts and Trent was all muscle. I like that the killer had a purpose in mind and that it was revealed at an early stage. This helped make the killer in my opinion more menacing. Shannon K. Butcher has made me a fan and I can't wait to read more. ( )