She Loves Me Not

Wendy Corsi Staub's She Loves Me Not details the domestic dramas of a single mother who has been targeted by a killer. Ever since Rose Larabee lost her husband and underwent heart transplant surgery, she's had troubles making ends meet. But now she has a new problem-a stalker who sends her eerie, heart-shaped gifts. Rose's friends try to convince her that the gifts may not be as sinister as she suspects, but when her boss, bookstore owner Luke Pfleuger, turns up dead on her lawn, it becomes clear that her ""secret admirer"" may be a murderer. The novel chugs along slowly as Staub (In the Blink of an Eye, etc.) describes Rose's domestic struggles. Indeed, some readers may forget that this is a thriller, not a work of women's fiction. Too tame to appeal to fans of the former and too dark for fans of the latter, this genre-bending tale will have difficulties finding its niche.