What would you do
if everything you thought was true about your family
turned out to be a lie?

Annie Lakes has had the same recurring nightmare for years. Her heart pounding in her chest. A panicked voice, begging her to run faster. Her own bloodcurdling scream. But now Annie is starting to realize it’s more than just a bad dream. She’s starting to remember things about the night her cousin Jenny disappeared all those years ago. Things that make her believe her family was involved–and what they’re hiding is much worse than she ever imagined. But she can’t unravel this alone. She needs someone she can trust, someone like sexy Detective Mark Sutton ….

Mark has seen enough–too much–to assume that Annie’s story is a dead end. It turns out that her family is hiding some killer secrets. A long time ago, Annie was just an innocent little girl who saw something she shouldn’t. Now she’s a target, and Mark’s running out of time to protect the woman he’s starting to fall for. But how does Mark face off against a murderer who just may be someone Annie loves?

Annie Lake has nightmares, they have her waking with a scream and pounding heart. The way it ends also leaves the impression there’s more to it. Her parents have told her it’s only a dream and the scar on her knee was from a fall off her bicycle, not a fall in the woods. When at her Uncle’s funeral she sees her cousin Fran and suddenly memories start flooding back. Now she needs to know the truth, and there’s only one person she can think of to help with that.

Detective Mark Sutton works cold cases with two others on the force. They have gained a reputation for closing these cases. Annie sees the handsome detective every day as he picks up his coffee and usually buys for another person on the line, calling it his good deed for the day.

Annie summons the courage to report her suspicions. However, she only recounts her dream and the reaction she had with her cousin Fran. She doesn’t mention the problems she’s had that relate to those dreams.

When Mark pretty much dismisses her as ‘crazy’ she decides it was a mistake and leaves.

This is a favorite scene.

She hugged her purse. “I didn’t remember…until now.”

He rolled the pen between his palms. “It just came to you. Just like that?”

“No. I went to an uncle’s funeral and…” Her words faded. “I guess I never really forgot. I’ve dreamed it, over and over again. Well, some of it. But when I was there, I remembered.”

He leaned forward. “You dreamed that this happened?”

She nodded.

Yup, crazy. And it’s Monday! “If you dreamed it, and then forgot it, how do you know it really happened?”

Her chin inched up, a tiny gesture that spoke of her guts.

“The shoes.” She pointed to the photo. “I dreamed I was wearing them. And the scar. I fell in the dream, and I have a scar.”

His grip on the pen tightened. “Normally, it takes more than a dream to report a murder.”

“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly, her tone hinting at a touch of anger. “It was a mistake coming here.”

She stood.

Guilt tugged at his gut. “If it happened in Pearlsville, you should talk to someone there.”

“I thought you’d…” She inhaled as if to pull the words back in. As if she decided he wasn’t worth her words.

“You thought I would what?” He clicked the pen.

Instead of answering, she bolted out of his office with a hell of a lot more energy than she’d come in.

Frustrated, he finger-locked his hands behind his neck and closed his eyes. His mind flashed the image of the haunted look he’d seen on her face. And while he still didn’t know why she looked familiar, he knew that look. He’d seen that same expression in the mirror every morning when he woke up, or when he crawled out of bed and hadn’t slept, because the images robbed him of sleep and sanity.

Determined to focus on the Talbot case, a real case, he leaned forward. He saw her picture. Picking it up, he stared at the younger girl’s image, the sweet face. He thought of his half sister. Sweet, innocent, and dead. Her body tossed in a dumpster. “Well, shit!” He took off, hoping to catch Ms. Lakes. What he’d say to her when, or if, he caught her, was anyone’s guess.
Craig, Christie. Don’t Close Your Eyes (Texas Justice) . Grand Central Publishing. Kindle Locations (459-474). Kindle Edition.

Taking on this case becomes so much more when Mark starts a relationship with Annie.

Lot of twists and turns, dysfunctional family, threats and so much more make this a page turning read.

I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Christie!

Christie Craig

New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig is an award-winning writer, photojournalist, motivational speaker, writing teacher, and author of thirty-four books.

An Alabama native, she is a NEW YORK TIMES Best-Selling author of more than 30 books and thousands of magazine articles. During her 25 year career, she has gained a well-deserved reputation for writing romance fiction that has both witty humor and a suspenseful, sexy tone.

Also writing young adult books as C.C. Hunter, her complete New York Times bestselling young adult paranormal series, Shadow Falls and Shadow Falls: After Dark, are available now from St. Martin’s Griffin. Her new young adult series, The Mortician’s Daughter, is now available and her contemporary young adult debut, This Heart of Mine, will release from Wednesday Books in February 2018. She also has a new romantic suspense series coming from Forever Books in 2018.

She currently resides in Texas.