Such a Pretty Girl

September 4, 2017
In Diamond’s captivating romantic thriller, an FBI profiler discovers a very personal connection to the serial killer she’s tracking. Grace Sinclair seems to have it all: beauty, brains, and a successful career as an FBI profiler and author. She is assigned to investigate a case in which a woman was brutally murdered and diamonds were placed on her ears by the killer. As Grace and fellow FBI agent Gavin Walker investigate the murder, they each recall the momentous night they spent together years before. Their investigation intensifies when more murders occur. While working tirelessly to solve the crimes as the body count escalates, Grace and Gavin feel their attraction intensifying, leading to some scintillating sex scenes. Meanwhile, Grace realizes the killer may be someone she knows. Diamond carefully combines romance and suspense in equal measures, and the pulse-pounding suspense continues unabated until the final page is turned.

September 1, 2017
A whip-smart FBI profiler teams up with a former fling to catch a killer with a personal grudge.Grace Sinclair is the FBI's shining star, working as one of their best criminal profilers. When not working cases, she channels her penchant for solving crimes into writing thrillers. With such a busy schedule, she has a strict rule of never seeing the same man more than once. Two years ago, Grace shared an amazing night with then homicide detective Gavin Walker, but that's all it was: one night. She ignored his calls and requests to meet up again. Now they've reunited, with Gavin becoming the latest FBI recruit to join the team. Their first case together seems to be a random shooting, but as more bodies pile up, the victims bearing a striking resemblance to Grace, it becomes obvious that there's nothing random about these murders. The crux of writing a compelling romantic suspense novel is balancing the tension with romance, and sometimes, there's more of one than the other. Here, the fact that a serial killer is on the loose, targeting the heroine, takes a back seat to Grace and Gavin's attraction to one another. Readers hoping for more of a thriller than a romance may be disappointed. This book is also a spinoff to Diamond's (Dangerous Games, 2017, etc.) O'Connor & Kincaid series, and while the plot and main characters can stand on their own, the introduction of secondary figures from a previous series often feels like a revolving door of names and details. Considering that the romance takes center stage, the book is wonderfully paced, with Grace and Gavin approaching the investigation two different ways: Grace relies on her logic and profiling experience, while Gavin is led by gut instinct and hunches. As both of them try to resist acknowledging their previous one-night stand, it becomes an almost adorably awkward scenario, if readers can ignore the presence of a murderer targeting women in the D.C. area.While the romance and suspense frequently feel at odds with one another, this is a compulsively readable romantic thriller.

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