Hotel heiress Regan Madison had never been involved with anyone more dangerous than the playground bully in kindergarten, which also happened to be the time she met her two best friends Sophie and Cordie. Now here she was, over twenty years later, and she had somehow gotten tangled in one heck of a mess. What started as a joke when the three women went to a seminar held by a self help guru had quickly turned sinister. When they were told to write down the names of people that they felt the world could be better off without, Regan wrote down names of real people who had recently annoyed her. She never imagined that her "Murder List" would get into the hands of a man obsessed with killing her! Or that he would begin killing the people on her list as a sordid gift to her before he finally caught up with her.

Alec Buchanan was on the verge of leaving the local police force for his dream job with the FBI. However, he still had three weeks left here, and he had managed to infuriate the police chief. Again. But this time, as punishment, Lieutenant Lewis assigned him as a bodyguard to a pampered little rich girl. Alec was completely unprepared for his reaction to Regan. Since when did lust alone provoke such a rush of protective feelings?

When she opened her e-mail one morning to find a graphic picture of one very dead policeman, Regan was completely baffled as to why she had been targeted. But then came the fax saying that person number two on her list had unfortunately died on her own before the killer could get to her. At that point, Regan made the connection between the murders, the list, and the strange and frightening man that had chased her down in the parking lot the night of the self-help seminar. Alec didn't know who to be more upset with--the madman or Regan for not telling him! Accepting no arguments, Alec planted himself right at Regan's side during all of her waking hours, and had an officer guarding her hotel suite door at night. On top of that, Regan's overprotective older brothers kept hiring more security guards. She was practically tripping over them! But the more time she spent with Alec, the more she fell for him. Well, she'd just have to be strong when he finally left her. But Alec had other ideas. He wasn't about to walk away from the woman he hadn't meant to fall in love with!

Once again, Julie Garwood has proven with MURDER LIST why she is consistently at the top of the best seller's lists, and the top of my favorite authors list! In her typical fashion, she combined a sexy hunk of a hero with an independent heroine who didn't know her own sex appeal, and added some quirky supporting characters and an intense mystery for a novel that was impossible to put down until the last word was read! Not only that, MURDER LIST promises to be one of those unforgettable books that you just have to read over and over again!

Reviewed by Tracy Atencio

© October 2004