Raven's Hollow - Jenna Ryan (HI #1478 - Feb 2014)

Series: Raven's Cove (Book 3)

Every small town has hidden secrets. But Raven's Hollow is also hiding a murderer. Twenty years ago, Detective Eli Blume's stepsister was killed. Though the killer was never found, Eli was forever changed by the family tragedy. Now another woman Eli cares about has been targeted: Sadie Bellam, whose legacy is closely tied to the town's eerie legends....

Sadie knows her stalker is no ghost, but a flesh-and-blood villain. And while she appreciates Eli's protection, their mutual attraction poses its own danger. Once that attraction ruined the life she thought she wanted; now Eli may be the only person standing between her and becoming yet another victim haunting Raven's Hollow.... 

Good book that was also pretty creepy.  Sadie has come home to run the family newspaper.  Now she's been targeted by a stalker who seems to want her as dead as her cousin Laura.  Eli has come to Raven's Hollow from New York City for his great-grandfather's birthday.  He's never forgotten the murder of his stepsister and the fact that the killer was never caught.  When he finds out that Sadie's stalker seems to share some characteristics with Laura's murderer, he's determined to protect her.  

Sadie has been having some really creepy dreams that involve a love triangle and some of her ancestors.  Some of the things her stalker is doing feed right into those dreams.  She's known Eli all her life and having him protect her is both good and bad.  Good because he'll keep her safe, but bad because there's an attraction between them that can only mean trouble.  The women in her family are not known for having successful relationships, but that's what she'd like to have with Eli.  I really enjoyed the sparks that were flying between them and seeing how they tried to resist.  

Eli has avoided relationships for years.  His last one didn't end well and he feels guilty for nearly killing the woman he was with at the time.  He's all too familiar with the fact that cops and relationships are something that doesn't usually work out well.  He can't deny the heat that exists between Sadie and himself, but he doesn't want to hurt her.  He also doesn't want anything to happen to her and is determined to solve the mystery of who is after her, especially with the connection to the murder of his stepsister.  

The whole stalker story was very creepy.  It was interesting to see how family legends of witchcraft and love triangles also helped the stalker terrify Sadie.  His ability to contact Sadie and know what she was doing at that time both scared her and made her mad.  As the book went on and she and Eli tried to figure out who it was various family members got involved.  Sadie's cousin Molly tried a seance that ended up including a visit from the stalker. She also ended up giving Sadie some interesting insights into a lot of their friends and relatives. Sadie's former fiance, local cop Ty, had his own issues that included a less than cordial relationship with his own cousin Eli.  The testosterone laced encounters between them were pretty amusing.  I also loved Eli's great-grandfather's incorrigible attitudes about almost everything, including his commentary on Eli's sex life.  As the climax of the story came hurtling along I loved seeing the work that Eli and Sadie did to figure out who was behind it.  I have to say that I never suspected the culprit.