This is an older book by Anne Stuart and I read it for free with Prime. Here's the description from Amazon:

Claire McIntyre tried to ignore the murders—the headlines of women stabbed to death, the city’s mounting fear. She tried to forget, too, the painful past she’d left behind in Massachusetts…and concentrate on her entrancing new life with Marc Bonnard. He was a man of wealth and sophistication, who wrapped her in a spell of erotic desire. Alone with Marc and his small daughter in his classic, elegant apartment, Claire could almost forget her loneliness…could almost believe that she loved him… But as the brutal deaths continued, Claire discovered a terrifying secret, a nightmare that became her own. Trapped in a sinister web of ancient vows and grisly revenge, she fled into the proud, indifferent city, searching for help, for a safe escape. Now, as rain falls softly down, she must outwit a killer whose mad cunning knows no bounds, a murderer who will find her, no matter where she hides…

This is a very, very dark book. It took me a bit to get into it but then I couldn't put it down. The heroine is probably the most TSTL heroines I've ever read. I actually screamed out loud because she was so stupid. But I kept on reading because I couldn't put it down. It's graphic like a Tami Hoag novel (Ashes to Ashes comes to mind).

I'm posting it here because I want to know if anyone else read it and what did you think? There are parts that, if it were written today, wouldn't fit -- cellphones changed everything. However, if you read it as an "historical from the 1980's", it would work.

I have never read it but, I think I would like to even with the tstl heroine.

I read this out of curiousity. I did not like it because it was more mystery than romance.

I just checked and I have it in my TBR pile. Thanks for the warning Linda. I hate TSTL heroines.

I'm a big fan of Anne Stuart, but this book didn't even seem like one of hers...in my opinion.

I totally agree -- it's nothing like her other books. I wonder if she wrote it years ago and then went back to it. Or maybe she was having a menopausal moment when she wrote it LOL.

I have every book she has ever written, and really can't pick a bad one out of the bunch. Ritual Sins is my favorite Anne Stuart book. None of her books are for the weak of heart, and I have yet to find another author who can really write a dark & tormented hero the way she does. Leaves you wondering long after you close the cover if he was really good or bad.

Here is a description from Amazon on Ritual Sins....which leads me to say, forget the Shades books. None of them could live up to this book, even though it was written in 1997. Anne Stuart had what it takes then and still does.

From Library Journal
When Rachel Connery's mother ostensibly dies of cancer and leaves all her money to the cult she has recently joined, Rachel heads for the Foundation of Being to confront the charismatic leader, Luke Bardell. But evil is rampant in the New Mexico retreat, and although Rachel eventually makes sense of it all, it's almost too late. Two protagonists with dark and twisted pasts and sizzling, occasionally sadistic sex scenes make this one of Stuart's (Lord of Danger, Zebra, 1997) darkest novels to date. More fiction than romance, the story might be too intense and erotic to appeal to some; nevertheless, it is a compelling story for all readers, and Stuart's many fans will be waiting for it. Stuart is a member of the RWA Hall of Fame and lives in Greensboro, Vt.

I like Stuart cause she writes antiheroes so well.

Erika I read that one years ago but this one is even weirder (or is that more weird?) When you compare this books to Shameless, Ruthless and others in that series, I can see why people think it's written by someone else.

Yep, maybe Stuart was trying something different w/Seen and Not Heard?? Glad she didn't stick w/that!