Maggie Kelly is a mystery writer. Alex Blakely is the star of her Viscount Saint Just series, and he’s a real person. Well, he wasn’t until very recently, when he popped out of the book and into her life in Maggie Needs an Alibi, and he didn’t enter it alone. He and Sterling Balder, his naïve, childlike sleuthing colleague, left Regency England and arrived in modern-day Manhattan. They’ve been adjusting to that drastic change, solving the occasional real-life mystery and causing all kinds of havoc in Maggie’s life through two more stories (Maggie by the Book and Maggie Without a Clue).

In High Heels and Homicide, one of Maggie’s Saint Just mysteries is being made into a movie, and she has been invited to be present for the filming. Alex and Sterling accompany her back to merry old England, and Alex is looking forward to returning to land of his birth – well, the birth of his character. When they arrive, Maggie is furious to find that her book has been ruined, and that most of the cast and crew are awful. Unfortunately, those are not the biggest problems she encounters. Unending rain has left them trapped and without power in the old manor house, and a body turns up hanging outside her bedroom window.

As they search for clues and try to solve the mystery, both Maggie and Alex wrestle with inner struggles: Maggie’s simultaneous attraction to Alex and her difficulty accepting the fact that he could poof out of her life as quickly as he entered it, and Alex’s continued realization that he has no past, that he came from the depths of Maggie’s imagination, and that he needs to grow in order to be more than just her creation. Their relationship isn’t the predictable, sugar-coated one usually found in romance.

Kasey Michaels has created what has to be one of the most unique ongoing storylines in contemporary romance. While this is the fourth in the series, the cleverness of the characters has not waned. Saint Just and Sterling have gotten somewhat acclimated to their new situation, and now the focus is on the burgeoning relationship between Maggie and Saint Just. The character development and plot are very strong. The writing is solid. And the ending leaves you eagerly awaiting the next installment in what is a thoroughly captivating series.

• The Toplofty Lord Thorpe
• Maggie Without a Clue
• The Beleaguered Lord Bourne
• The Enterprising Lord Edward
• The Ruthless Lord Rule