Audrey Lawless swore she'd never get attached to a cop again. Her husband had been a cop, a good cop. His death still haunted her every day. The official report said suicide, but Audrey didn't buy that. So she got a job as a researcher at the police station to help her in her personal investigation. Most of the officers treated her well, except the chief. He seemed to have it in for her. But one of the officers treated Audrey very well. She was attracted to Dan, she'd admit that much. But there was no way she was going to get involved. For one thing, he was much younger than she was. And he was a cop for crying our loud. No way was anything going to happen between them. No sir.

Dan Picolo had been attracted to Audrey for a long time now. He had waited to act on it out of respect for her widow status. But it was time she got out and lived again. And he was just the man to do it. Dan was tired of being a ladies man. He was ready to settle down. And he knew that Audrey was the woman for him. He just had to convince her. To do that, he needed to get close to her. Helping her with her investigation into her husband's death would do that. But the more he learned, the more he wanted to solve it for himself. Something just wasn't right with the department's original conclusion.

As Audrey and Dan delved deeper into her husband's death, they also got deeper into each other. The attraction was so strong it became impossible to deny. When the whole police department found out, and Audrey discovered that there had been a bet going about how long it would take for her and Dan to end up in bed-well, driving Dan's patrol car into the lake was the mildest thing she could think of doing! Pity it meant losing her job. But Dan loved her, and was determined to help her solve the mystery of her husband's death. When he got shot by a sharpshooter sniper, Audrey realized that she loved him as well. Having one love in your lifetime was special. Two was a miracle. She couldn't lose him. Not this one. No sir.

QUEEN OF HEARTS is a story about second chances. Audrey was given a second chance to love again, and with Dan in her life she was given a second chance to bring closure to the mystery surrounding her husband's death. What makes the relationship between these two so believable is that even though there are small hints about their physical appearances, the attraction between them is not built on anything less than the complete picture-their hearts, souls, and bodies. What a relief to find an author that doesn't depict spectacular sex as only able to happen between two "perfect" people. Cyndi Redding has simply written about what the majority of women have long known: earth shattering sex and wonderful relationships happen between real people too!

Reviewed by Tracy Atencio
(c) August 2004