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My love of romance and mystery/suspense started young. As a kid, I watched reruns of a show call The Rookies (anyone old enough to know that show?). My favorite characters were the married ones, Mike and Jill Danko. I even wrote stories about them. This was before I ever heard of fan fiction and long before the Internet (1970s…God I’m old!).

No matter what I watched (movie or TV), I was always into the romance. Star Wars? Han and Leia. General Hospital? Rick and Lesley.

I remember once my father telling me that Natalie Wood (who I was a fan of) had married the same man twice. SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE! That’s one of my all-time favorite tropes!

Later, I discovered her husband, Robert Wagner, on Hart to Hart and oh my God…sexy sleuthing couple. They, of course, were modeled after another sexy sleuthing couple, Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man. I love those movies too. The book is fun as well!

When I finally started reading romantic suspense/mystery, I was disappointed to come to the end of the book to discover that my time with that couple was over. So I started reading more mystery series, but was disappointed that they weren’t romantic or spicy. Most aren’t even sensual. Sure, I enjoy Max and Annie Darling (Carolyn Hart books), Tommy and Tuppence Beresford (Agatha Christie), and Sam and Remi Fargo (Clive Cussler), but I like the romance and sexy bits too, which those books don’t have.

I went on a quest to find books that were like Hart to Hart…sexy sleuthing couples and couldn’t find much. At the time, I could only find the In Death books by JD Robb (which I recommend).

So I wrote the Valentines! A sexy sleuthing couple who stumble over dead bodies by day and tumble into bed at night. (Deadly Valentine is free from my website or on my ReamStories page.)

Since then, more books have come out to feed my sexy sleuth series desires. I’ve been trying to curate a list of these books. Here’s what I have so far, but if you know anymore, please tell me.

Series with mystery or suspense that also involve passionate romance.

In Death Series (over 50 books) by JD Robb – Gritty police procedure in near future NYC with kick-ass cop Eve Dallas and the sexy Irish bazillionaire Roarke. Naked in Death (book 1) is an all-time favorite! I was able to get a signed copy when I visited her family bookstore in Boonsboro, MD. By the way, if you ever have a chance to stay at her boutique hotel there, do it! It’s awesome!

Riley Thorn Series by Lucy Score – These are rom-com type reads with reluctant psychic Riley Thorn and private investigator Nick Santiago in Philadelphia.

Fatal Series by Marie Force (16 books) – Not as gritty as JD Robb, but grittier than mine or Lucy Score’s, this series has DC homicide detective Sam Holland and Nick Cappuano, who starts out as a senator’s aid, and later becomes a senator himself. Eventually he becomes the president, in which the series becomes the First Family series (7 books).

 

Liz Danger Series by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Meyer – I haven’t read these yet, but they’re on my TBR. I’ve always enjoyed Jennifer Crusie, who wrote humorous romances before romcom in books became a thing.

 

 

If you can think of more, let me know!