After Midnight tells a tale of cops with guns where injuries are real, people die, and the walking wounded don’t get straight up from their sickbeds to fight again. But Sam is determined to find out why his friend died, and there’s definitely something strange about the hooker-who’s-not-a-hooker.

“Car nine, out of service. End of watch. We thank you for your sacrifice...” Powerful words, powerfully portrayed in a funeral that stays with the reader, giving depth and sincerity to this tale. Tragic circumstances are offset with the delightful humor and genuine affection of pitch-perfect dialog, as Sam falls in love, his siblings tease, and a beautiful woman finds her life in danger.

Great characters, great romance, sensual sex scenes, intriguing mystery (yeah, I guessed, but that’s me), and a cool location (made all the better since I’d just visited Denver for the first time before reading)... After Midnight is a fast enjoyable read for mature readers.

Disclosure: I found it when it was free and I’m sorry it took so long to get around to reading it. ( )

Kate Mckinney was excited when she was hired for a television commercial, until her fellow actor starting shooting at the two police with real bullets, killing one before being killed by a ride-along reporter, Brian Bergen. Now injured, office Sam Morgan wants to know what happened. Will he let his attraction to Kate get in the way of finding truth and justice?

This reader figured out the mastermind by page 100, but it was fun to watch Kate and Sam fumble around. ( )

We all know the life of a street cop is dangerous, and when one of your own go down, it is devastating. But what if you watch him go down in front of you, and you are also wounded?

Officer Sam Morgan was out on his usual patrol with a ride along when they stopped to try to get a hooker off the street corner. When his backup arrived, a friend in the force, the pimp emerged out of the darkness and things went out of control.

The hooker, who really was an actress, Kate was in shock at what she witnessed, especially when the ride along took a gun and fired at the pimp, killing him. When Kate heard the sirens, she blended into the background in an effort to get away unnoticed. Concerned for the wounded officer, she went to the hospital the next day to check on him. What little they saw of each other sparked a romance that neither would own up to for fear of being hurt.

But who was this pimp, and why did he shoot to kill? Sam was determined to find out. Along the way, his desire for Kate increased, but she seemed to be a magnet for trouble. Someone tried to run her off the road, break into her apartment and other circumstances that should not continue to happen for no reason. The more Sam digs, the more he finds out, and the more their relationship blossoms.

As the story unfolds, you will begin to put together who is the cause of all this, or at least have your suspicions who it is. While the detailed intimacy between Sam and Kate could have been scaled back a bit, it does show their desire for each other. Minimal amount of characters make it easy to follow, but also easy to play detective yourself. Great detail for making you feel like you are there, seeing all they see, doing all they do, feeling all they feel. Good who-done-it for those who like a good mystery. ( )