After Midnight [Paperback]

Merline Lovelace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 4, 2003

Back when she was a scrappy eight-year old, Jessica Yount and her mother were escorted out of their hometown by the local sheriff-and she never found out why. Now she is back in Valpariso, Florida, drawn into a police investigation surrounding the death of a local man-and into an irresistibly passionate, tension-filled affair with Sheriff Steve Paxton.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In yet another excellent tale following Lovelace's The Captain's Woman [BKL F 1 03], Col. Jessica Blackwell finds she can go home again, but the cost may be her life. Not that Jessica wants to return to the small town where she and her less than virtuous mother were the local pariahs, but being a good soldier, the colonel obeys orders. Meanwhile, a horrendous secret, immense guilt, and a need for revenge drives someone to commit murder. Sheriff Steve Paxton doesn't know why he thinks Colonel Blackwell's innocent. After all, she has the motive and the means for each murder, and the killings didn't begin until word of her return got out. There's just something about Jessica that attracts him, and when someone starts trying to kill her, he makes protecting her his full-time duty. Lovelace's many fans have come to expect her signature strong, brave, resourceful heroines, and she doesn't disappoint. Readers who enjoy military thrillers by such authors as Vicki Hinze and Suzanne Brockmann will be riveted by this nail-biting story by a retired Air Force colonel who writes with an insider's knowledge and assurance. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451410726
• ISBN-13: 978-0451410726
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As an AF brat I lived in France and Newfoundland, both of which I loved, and at least half of the fifty states. As an AF officer, I served tours in Taiwan, Vietnam, the Pentagon, and the rest of the fifty states!

Now I'm having a blast putting all those adventures into my books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly emotional novel., February 4, 2003

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Midnight (Paperback)

Jessica Blackwell learned young that she had to be tough; her mother's being the town tramp made her that way. It also led them to being sent out of town by the sherriff, causing Jessica to acquire a deepseated mistrust towards lawmen.

Ironically, a quarter of a century later, she finds herself back in her home town as the result of a military promotion, and not long after that, attracted to the sexy sherriff who comes knocking on her door late one night. Dead bodies have begun turning up, and Jessica is the thread that connects them all, and she is the one person with the most obvious motive for wanting these men dead. Being drawn to the prime suspect is something Steve Paxton had never counted on, especially not when his heart still bears scars from a messy divorce.

Jessica might be the prime suspect, but the real killer wants her dead as well. As the two delve into the past, though, they begin to wonder if there might be a future for them. They have to survive first however.

***** Taughtly drawn and highly emotional, this novel is on a par with Sandra Brown's earliest and best work, and surpasses that of the current queens of military fiction. Both hero and heroine are all that you could want in a starring couple, equal in toughness, and also in vulnerability. Jessica and Steve work so well together that you wish that they might become the central couple in a series, ala Eve and Roarke. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!!!, March 4, 2003

By 

Pinktulip "Cat" (Chattanooga, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Midnight (Paperback)

Hello Sheriff. Jessica Yount Blackwell comes back to the town where her mother was gang raped and hustled out. Although she has no use for the town or its occupants, she tries to overcome the bad memories and overcome her past. She is stationed at the airforce base near the town. It begins with Sheriff Steve Paxton coming to inquire about the abrupt death of her real estate agent. It turns out that the man said her name before he committed suicide. Jessica is not fond of the police since the last time she was there and has no comment for the Steve. The attraction is there even through the side stepping and the evasions. The story escalates a notch more when on her way home, Jessica's car is forced off a bridge into the river. Now she begins to wonder what is happening. So is Steve. They become involved and soon are trying to figure out who is trying to kill her. Then another man turns up dead. It comes to light that the two deceased men are linked by one common incident - the rape of Jessica's mother. Is Jessica killing all of the rapists or is someone trying to frame her? This is a wonderful book by Merline. Enjoy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong military romantic suspense, February 4, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After Midnight (Paperback)

Though she would prefer to avoid this duty near her hometown, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jessica Blackwell accepts the assignment at Eglin. To Jessica her childhood home Valpariso, Florida is near Eglin, but her memory is of a tragedy from a quarter of a century ago when her mother was assaulted. Still she salutes when a three star General selected Jessica to clean up the environmental nightmare at the base in order to satisfy EPA after an illegal dumping into the sewerage system.

Walton County Sheriff Steve Paxton visits Jessica to ask her about her relationship with local realtor Ron Clark, who apparently committed suicide. His wife who found the body says his last words she heard was his mentioning Blackwell. Jessica informs the law enforcement official she met Clark once to pick up the keys to this home. Other murders follow with the link between the dead being what happened to Jessica's mother, making Steve wonder if he has fallen in love with a vengeful killer.

The Commander in Chief of military romantic suspense is Merline Lovelace. Her latest tale, AFTER MIDNIGHT, would gain her the US Senate's consent as the sub-genre leader. The key characters are three-dimensional whether they are Air Force or civilian while the support players either provides insight into the area, the military, or the lead couple. The who-done-it is a delightful police procedural as Steve battles between his heart swearing Jessica is innocent and his brain saying she is the connection. Another five star novel by an author whose books always soar with the best.

Harriet Klausner