Bloodlust by Sandra Brown

Bloodlust is the second book in Sandra Brown’s Blood series. It’s a twisty, steamy, suspenseful thriller and I enjoyed the ride!

The last time we saw Mitch Haskell was in Blood Moon when his wife was giving birth to their son. Two years later, his wife has been murdered (it’s so sad) and he is struggling with anger and drinking too much. Mitch spent a few years working undercover for the DEA where he made enemies. At the end of Blood Moon, he went back to work for his friend John Bowie at the Auclair police department and now he wants revenge on the people who killed his wife. John is dealing with corruption in the police force and now there is a mole in the department undermining them.

When Mitch’s drinking and anger cause problems, John insists that he get help and recommends he start seeing a psychotherapist. Mitch’s son is now almost three so he also has him to consider. Mitch starts seeing Dr. Dylan Reede, a therapist with her own past trauma. When Mitch goes undercover in disguise, he is stabbed and he discovers a link between Dylan and one of his enemies. He takes Dylan to John’s fishing cabin and as their attraction builds, he fires her as his therapist so they can be together. It was fun to see Dylan was able to go toe to toe with Mitch’s snark.

The story is full of action and suspense and I didn’t want to put it down. There are some twists I didn’t see coming, and one that made me dislike Mitch for a bit, but he redeemed himself in the end. There were a few things that happened in Bloodlust that felt similar to Blood Moon. I do think it’s helpful to read Blood Moon first to get a little more background on the characters, but it’s not necessary.

I think readers that like suspense, especially fans of Sandra Brown, will enjoy this steamy, romantic mystery and I hope we get to see more books in the Blood series.