Midnight Temptation

The bland second paranormal romance in Nichols’s Ravens Hollow Coven series (after Midnight Desire) offers too little substance in both the suspense plot and the love story. When Hoboken, N.J., witch Gillian Howe and her cousin and coven-mate, Brooke, witness a vampire blood orgy, only Gillian escapes unscathed; Brooke is kidnapped as a “blood bond” by one of the leaders of a vampire crime ring called the Du Sang Brotherhood. Now attractive vampire detective Garrett Mulroney is on the case. Gillian and the arrogant Garrett have antagonized each other during previous run-ins, but with Gillian’s life potentially in danger until they can take down the Brotherhood, Garrett invites her to move into his home for her protection. Despite Gillian’s strong attraction to Garrett, he is always the one to push their relationship forward in romantic overtures that occasionally read as railroading. The result is an unequal partnership between a passive heroine and patronizing hero. Though the supernatural elements add zing to an otherwise routine procedural, they are underplayed. This is a letdown. (July)