Publisher: Silhouette Desire (April 2007)

Tessa Radley's romance far exceeds the debut label. Black Widow Bride is a complete with passionate emotions, complex multi-layered characters, an intriguing plot and a magnificent surprise ending. The passion sparks between the two main characters with an electricity on the edge of exploding. They hate each other! Tessa Radley transforms that electricity into a depth and passion not just of the bodies but of the soul, a love born from the past deep sadness within her characters. The emotions are passionate, the betrayals deep and the past histories complex. Tessa Radley creates rich characters not often found in short romances by balancing the immediate emotion with complex character histories. She reveals the past layer upon layer as the plot develops, building the suspense through her characters.

The scenes between Rebecca and her son T.J. are some of the best kid scenes I have read and so integrated into the plot. Radley creates a portrait of a mother's deep love and a child's curiosity without any of the sappy or overplayed sentimentality or cuteness I see too much elsewhere, especially on television. Very nice indeed!

The ending was a nice surprise. I expected one thing --- it just had to be that way ---- that is the typical formula... but I was wrong! Such a nice and welcome complication!