Forbidden Territory, by Paula Graves

Borrowing RenéeW's review format (with some minor changes) here. Otherwise, I'm never going to catch up...

TITLE: Forbidden Territory
AUTHOR: Paula Graves

COPYRIGHT: 2006
PAGES: 251
SETTING:Contemporary
TYPE:Category Romance (Harlequin Intrigue)
SERIES:First in the Browning sisters series (three sisters, each with her own paranormal power)

REASON FOR READING: I bought it because of something one of the AAR reviewers posted on the message boards. The discussion was about a "yet another psychic heroine" book, and the poster mentioned Forbidden Territory in passing, as one pretty much overlooked book that had got this plot right.

Walking away wasn't an option...

"Help me!"

For Lily Browning, there was no escaping the visions that had haunted her all her life. And now a little girl's desperate cry for help had brought enigmatic, disturbingly masculine Lieutenant McBride to her door…

McBride didn't have time for psychics. He had a kidnapper to catch. But the woman with the golden eyes seemed to see things no one else could-including his own tragic secret. With a child's life at stake, he had to trust Lily…even as each step plunged them deeper into danger and into the uncharted territory of irresistible desire….

SHORT (HOPEFULLY!) PLOT SUMMARY: Schoolteacher Lily Browning is a psychic who's fought against her frightening, horrific visions all her life. Lieutenant J. McBride is a cop with an intense mistrust of psychics, especially since the disappearance of his daughter a few years earlier, when his hopes were raised by one of them and then dashed.

When McBride is assigned to investigate the kidnapping of the daughter of a Senate candidate, these two come into contact, as Lily is ambushed by a vision she can't close out and her conscience prods her into going to the police with the info.

Faced with McBride's refusal to believe in her, even when it seems clear she just can't be making that stuff up, it would be easier to give up, knowing that she tried. But Lily can't abandon little Abby, who she keeps communicating with in her dreams. And neither can she abandon Casey, the mysterious little girl who keeps joining her and Abby during those visions.

MY THOUGHTS: FT was nice enough. Graves handled the paranormal and mystery portions of the plot well. Lily's visions were smoothly done, and I liked the way the revelations were paced. I especially enjoyed the Casey angle. It was always quite obvious just who she had to be, but I was very intrigued by how she would fit in and why Lily was seeing her. And the "aha!" moment when we find out exactly what had happened during that earlier episode with the psychic who got it wrong was good, too.

However, the romance and the characters weren't as good. Lily and McBride were a bit indistinct. In fact, the characteristic of McBride's that sticks in my mind the most is his unreasonableness when dealing with Lily. Understandable, yes, but I still felt like shaking him sometimes. And the romance was a bit meh. Nothing bad, but no tingly feelings, either.

MY GRADE: A B-. Some of the twists in the plot raise it from the average where the characters would place it.