I See You by Holly Lisle

I recently read Holly Lisle's new book, I See You. I normally do not read romance books. Actually this is the first romance book that I have ever read.

I was referred to this book by Mel Odom, but I have read several of Holly's fantasy books. I like her style and enjoy her characters. To me, the characters will make or break a story. Of course it needs a good plot and pacing, but poor characters will make me put a book down and never look at it again.
Holly's two main characters, Dia and Brig, are very well written. They are people I would like and respect. They have tough jobs and both have had to deal with the pain that marriage can bring. Dia's husband died in an accident and Brig's exwife is a gold digger that divorced him looking for a BBD (Bigger Better Deal).
Dia is an EMT. Brig is a Ft Lauderdale Homicide Detective. In an aside, my grandmother lived in Ft Lauderdale and I have been around several of the places mentioned in the story. They are brought together by a serial killer. Dia is a first responder on accidents that he has caused. Brig is assigned the task of finding and capturing the killer.
Labelling this a romance novel is a diservice to the story. Yes, Girl gets Guy. Yes, there is some sex scenes. But this is a much richer suspense novel. I love the way she has written the sense of loss and betrayal. I thoroughly enjoyed the action.
Now to the part I did not like. I had a hard time with the killer. His motivation felt somehow contrived. His actions through the story were consistant to the way he was created and written, but I just could not get into him as a villian.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. Maybe I just don't like stories about serial killers. Actually, this is the first story about serial killers that I have ever read.
On a scale of 1-10, I give this a 7 1/2.
On a different note, My wife absolutely loved it. But then again, she likes stories with hot sex and serial killers.