Trumpet Morning Book

Drawn In Blood, the second book featuring Sloane Burbank and Derek Parker, had the potential to be a fantastic romantic suspense. Unfortunately, it missed the mark completely. Sloane Burbank's family has come under fire in this novel. Her father, a former art dealer, along with his partners are being threatened by an individual who believes they have witnessed one of his crimes. In her efforts to protect the ones she loves, Sloane becomes entangled in the world of Asian art crime and this puts Derek in an awkward position. As her boyfriend, he feels the need to protect her despite her protests. As an FBI agent, he is forced to investigate her family and it's closest friends to get to the heart of the matter. Protecting her family at all costs forces Sloane to uncover some unpleasantness and the ensuing resolution to the conflicts could leave everything she has come to love in shambles.
Kane's second novel was a grave disappointment. After an average beginning to the series, I expected and hoped the sequel would be better. The characters, Sloane and Derek, had fantastic potential as a couple and I firmly thought the chemistry would explode as they became further involved with each other. Instead of romantic tension, the relationships in Drawn In Blood felt lukewarm at best. This was a tragedy because with an engagement taking place, there should have been sparks! Another strong disappointment was the storyline. The idea behind the novel had the possibility of being unique and the underground Asian mafia connections were lacking detail at every turn. The plot turned into a simple revenge story which was completely lackluster. Overall, this story bordered on boring throughout the book and I felt like I was plodding along with each page I turned. I would not recommend Drawn In Blood to any of my reading friends and I am sorry to say I will most likely not be reading Andrea Kane in the future.