Beautiful blonde rich girl is protected by tall, dark, handsome cop. They fall in love and get married in the end of the book. Although I didn't figure out who the killer or "demon" was until near the end of the book. The rest of the book was a little too predictable.

Let me start by saying that I polished this book off in 2 days. Then let me say that it wasn't her best. Contradiction? Perhaps... Julie Garwood is among my all time favourite romance authors. Historical or contemporary settings don't matter - as soon as I hear that she has a new book coming out, I can hardly wait. The basic plot of Murder List is that 3 childhood friends decide to uncover a fraudulant, self-help guru who is helping himself to rich widows' savings. They attend one of his weekend seminars and are invited to write a list - a Murder List - of people they dislike so much they wouldn't mind picturing them dead. It's a catharsis exercise, for everyone is asked to toss the list into the fire afterwards - it's a purging of sorts. By coincidence, Regan Madison's list is not burned and finds its way into the hands of a murderer. Suddenly people from Regan's list start turning up dead. What were the book's weaknesses? The beginning was extremely stilted - how the 3 girls met in kindergarten and stayed friends till the present. The convoluted plot of uncovering fraud, Regan's 3 overprotective brothers (caricatures all). Everything just seemed like such a phony set-up!! But then there were the strengths: after the first victim died, the pace picked up very quickly. Alec Buchanan, ex-cop turned bodyguard, was a sexy, rumpled alpha male who watched over Regan possessively. The murderer plotted and suffered and did as The Beast bade him. The plot speeded up, slowed down, speeded up, got bogged down in details. Many secondary characters were introduced but were never developed. Regan was pretty wimpy, even when she tried to assert herself near the end. So all in all, a good read but not a fantastic read. Try harder, Julie.