Hot Pursuit    by Karen Rose, Annie Solomon & Carla Cassidy Order:  USA  Can Signet, 2005 (2005) Paperback     Reviewed by Martina Bexte If you're in the mood for shorter romantic suspense, take a minute to check out this new anthology that brings together three of the genre's most talented authors. Karen Rose kicks off the excitement with Dirty Little Secrets. Throughout high school Chris Walker and Emma Townsend were the best of friends, each too shy to admit their true feelings. A misplaced letter changes their future forever. Seventeen years later Emma finds Chris's heartfelt words tucked away in her yearbook. Wanting to make things right - and perhaps to find out if her feelings for Chris were stronger than she realized - she heads to Florida to sort things out. But as their passion flares, killers are closing in, determined to silence Chris, and Emma if necessary, after he begins questioning the death of one of his graduate students. In Annie Solomon's Necessary Betrayals, a mobster's daughter and the cop who betrayed her and her family are forced to work together to solve a kidnapping. Francesca is frantic to find her sister, Gina, who may be witness to a triple murder. Frannie had cut Quinn Parker out of her life once she found out he'd been working undercover to bring down her father. Her hatred of Quinn only intensifies after her father's prison murder. But now all their suppressed feelings must be set aside as the two of them work against time to track down Gina, who may be next on a vengeful killer's hit list. And in Carla Cassidy's Endless Night, a mild mannered shop girl finds herself on the run after her blind date goes from bad to worse. On a scale of one to ten, Amanda figures Clay Murdock is a minus two! The man's about as interesting as a brick and just as talkative. She even has to give him a ride home. But when an assassin is waiting for them outside his house, there's no time to think, only run. Twenty-four hours later, they've had time to get to know each other better as well as set up their own little sting to find out who's responsible for blowing Clay's cover in the witness protection plan. Will they succeed, or will Clay disappear from Amanda's life just as she was getting to know him? Of the three stories in this collection, Rose's is by far the best. Known for her involved plotting and in-depth characterizations, she doesn't disappoint, even though the story is only novella length. Chris and Emma dominate as their teenage infatuation is finally given the chance to bloom. On the other hand, Solomon's and Cassidy's stories suffer due to their restricted length - I got the feeling that given a few more chapters to develop their characters and their situations, their stories might have been more involving. Over all though, Hot Pursuit is a good read and well worth a look. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Romance books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews