Title: Serena’s Web
Author: Julie Skerven
Published in September 2005 by Whiskey Creek Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
IBSN: 1-59374-287-8
Serena McLain is a first grade school teacher and the mother of five year old Sammy. Her ex-husband was addicted to drugs and has recently turned up looking for a handout. Serena wants nothing to do with him, but he keeps following her around and giving her gifts. After his arrival in town, Serena took a self-defense class so that if he becomes violent she will be able to protect herself and Sammy. So far, it has not come to that, but she is not taking any chances. To complicate her life even further, her father has been missing for four days. Samuel Carlson is an author that has just finished writing an unauthorized biography of local mobster Gerald Grayson, but before turning in the manuscript to his publisher, he mysteriously disappears. Serena contacts the police to investigate the break in at her father’s house and his disappearance, but Gerald Grayson is an influential man in town and no one is able to find her father.
While at the police station filling out the missing person’s report, Serena runs into a janitor and feels physical emotions that she has not felt in years. She is confused by what she feels, but cannot think about that now while her father is gone. When she does not get answers from the police she decides that she must take matters into her own hands. She goes to the mobster’s house and crashes his party with the help of a private investigator that she hired in the hopes of finding her father or a clue to his whereabouts. Luck is not on her side and she witnesses the mobster killing the investigator. Serena flees for her life, but is stopped on the beach by one of the police that are in the employee of the mob. She is sure that her life is over, but a stranger dressed all in black walks onto the scene. He looks vaguely familiar to her, but she does not recognize him at first. Her rescuer seems like the answer to her prayers, but when he arrests her for the murder of the investigator, she is stunned speechless.
Mark Riley, posing as a janitor at the local police station, is a FBI agent on the trail of something big. He has intense chocolate brown eyes and an athletic build. His body responded to Serena’s when they literally ran into each other in the police station. The only way to keep Serena alive is to put her and five year old Sammy into protective custody. Serena does not like the situation at all, but Mark has a job to do and he is going to do it to his best ability. When she sprays him with Mace on the way to the safe house, he knows that he has a wildcat on his hands. When Serena accuses him of being a robot, it does not even faze him. Having the ability to work until you drop and not feel any pain is useful in his line of work.
Mark knows he has a job to do, but the desire he feels for Serena overwhelms him. He strives to keep a distance between them, but each day in her presence it becomes harder to do. Mark has not spent a lot of time around children, but he hits it off with Sammy. While protecting Serena and Sammy, he takes them to do some fishing and finds that he has the time of his life with them. Things start to heat up with the case and because of his suspicions that there is a mole in the FBI, Mark follows his instincts and takes Serena and Sammy to a new safe house to protect them. He is willing to go against direct orders, to ensure their safety. Being isolated with only minimal contact with other agents, Mark strives to maintain his code of never mixing business with pleasure, but it is a struggle for him.
Julie Skerven has written a spellbinding tale in Serena’s Web. Serena McLain’s mantra in life is happily ever after, but she has a hard time picturing that happening with Mark Riley. Even when the FBI agent turns out to be one of the good guys and protects Serena and Sammy from execution, Serena does not see a future for them. She will not settle for someone that has no emotions. She deserves better than that. Mark is far from having no emotions, but he strives to maintain control on them and not let them interfere with his job. His last assignment did not end the way it should have and he is not taking any chances on a repeat performance with this one. He will protect his charges no matter what. Even at the cost of a possible relationship with Serena. What he does not count on is Serena’s ability to pull him in and overwhelm his senses.
Serena is fiercely protective. She is going to do anything in her power to find her father and protect her son. I enjoyed how she is not going to take any bull from Mark on what she knows are her responsibilities to her family. She is willing to make a deal with the devil to ensure their safety, even if that devil comes disguised as a FBI agent. Mark knows what his job is and is going to complete it no matter what, but things have a way of getting in the way. He is able to handle dangerous situations that are thrown at them, but a little thing like love throws him for a loop. He is not sure how to deal with his feelings, but I am sure that Serena will be able to give him a little direction. Pick up a copy of Serena’s Web today from Whiskey Creek Press to see how Serena is able to weave her magic around Mark.
Yours Sincerely,
Annmarie
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