The Zodiac Series: Scorpio

She was a showgirl – Deanna Lee
For the past year Lola Bridges has been on the run. Having witnessed the murder of a friend and security guard at the Zodiac Hotel and Casino, where Lola worked as a showgirl, she is now in the number one spot on Phil Moretti’s hit list. Unwilling to go to the police, knowing that they would be unable to protect her and trusting no one, she uses her skills as a daughter of a policeman to evade both the police and Moretti’s henchmen by going underground. Then U.S Marshall Jared Copeland catches up to her and apprehends her. It seems that it was his partner who was murdered, whilst deep undercover, and Jared wants justice. But with a potential leek in his department and his sole focus on justice, will he be able to protect Lola – or is he effectively signing her death warrant? What happens to his decisions once things heat up between them on the road?

Midnight hour – Jenna Howard
Mattie Adamson leads two lives: one as a famous fashion model, the other as an assassin for the Zone Of Defense in Armed Conflict (Z.O.D.I.A.C.), a secret agency the government turns to in times of need – but denies exists. This is a secret she keeps from her lover, Max Grayson, a rich hotelier – and everyone else outside of the agency as well. Her past has made her reluctant to get too close to anyone. She knows that she is falling for Max and should break things off with him – but her feelings prevent her from doing so. She hates what she does as an agent, seeing each killing as a stain upon her soul. Yet she keeps doing it. In her mind she is killing the monsters of the world and protecting the innocents – as no one protected her or her brother as a child. When her past comes back to haunt her, threatening not only her but Max’s daughter, whom she has come to love as her own, for the first time she is at peace with the Glock in her hand. She is determined not to let her past harm those she loves. The past that has shaped the woman she is today. Will Max reject her when he finds out she leads a double life? When he finds out the threat posed to his daughter by her past? Or will he work with her, trust in her and love her – as no one ever has before?

This particular anthology has got to be one of my favorites among the Zodiac Series. As with the others in the sequence, the character’s horoscopes are used to tie the stories in to the Zodiac tales, but they are further linked in ways that are unique and imaginative. In She was a Showgirl, the hotel and casino where Lola worked was called the Zodiac; in Midnight Hour Mattie’s assassin name was Scorpio and she worked for an agency whose acronym is Z.O.D.I.A.C. This lends a refreshing air to these tales, giving them a slight edge over some of the others in this series. They are both well written with a good, solid character development. I love the play on the title of She was a Showgirl, and Lola’s name and occupation; its deliberate use of the connection to the song was fabulous. Midnight Hour took a completely unexpected turn that involves a socially sensitive issue, which fit in with the overall story and enabled the author to give the reader a glimpse into Mattie’s psyche, how her past has made her the vulnerable, insecure assassin that she is. There are sex scenes in these tales, which are not glossed over but are described in relative detail, but contain nothing objectionable. I have enjoyed this anthology very much; at times I was completely gripped and on the edge of my seat. If you are a follower of the Zodiac series, you should make a quick trip to Liquid Silver Books to immediately add this wonderful addition to the series to your library. If you have not yet read any of the Zodiacs this is a brilliant one to start with.

Reviewed by: Elizabeth