"Fine police procedural romance"

The serial killer informs FBI Agent Sam McCabe that Madeline is next. Creative Partners owner Maddie Fitzgerald hopes to win the multimillion-dollar advertising of Bechler's Pet Chow. That night Maddie awakens because she knows someone is in her hotel room. Panicked she stabs the intruder with a pencil and flees.

The next morning, Sam learns the serial killer murdered Madeline Fitzgerald, but that another Maddie was in the hotel and survived an assault. Sam tries to interview Maddie but she is hostile towards the Fed. Maddie wins the contract and returns to St. Louis where she calls a mob number to warn them if they kill her, evidence from her father's work will surface.

Sam realizes the killer knows he made a mistake and will try to murder Maddie soon. When someone shoots her, he stays at her place to keep her safe. Unable to resist, they kiss. Both love and hate the emotions they feel, but soon make love. While still in each other's arms, the killer calls so Sam can hear him murder Carol, which reminds them that he has a killer to catch and she has a past that would destroy an FBI Agent's career.

Fans of police procedural romances will enjoy the action- packed thriller that does not slow down until the final confrontation ties up all loose ends. The attraction between the lead couple is handled nicely except for making love with killers chasing them. Though the killer's need to flaunt Sam seems out of character since he is atypical as he "cleansing" his past, readers will enjoy this solid suspense story.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 9, 2004

A bewitching combination of pulse-pounding twists and blazing romance, Bait is the remarkable Karen Robards at her best.

Summary

It's a business trip that takes attorney Maddie Fitzgerald down to New Orleans, but it's hardly business as usual when a man breaks into her hotel room and tries to kill her. Barely escaping with her life, the sexy, stylish thirty-two-year-old brunette calls the police and finds herself face-to-face with FBI agent Sam McCabe. Unnerved by his questions—and his good looks—Maddie is told she's been targeted by a hired killer, one who has eluded McCabe for years.

Apparently, she's been mistaken for another woman, an FBI informant of the same name who was also staying at the hotel that night. McCabe grills her, and then disappears. Shaken, she finishes her business and returns home to St. Louis.

But days later, Maddie is attacked a second time, and again McCabe returns to question her. He convinces her that the only way she'll ever be safe again is if the killer is caught, and the quickest way to nab him is to use her as bait. Maddie reluctantly agrees, and sparks fly and then ignite as McCabe shadows her. But their unexpected romance throws McCabe off his stride—and puts Maddie in the hands of a killer.