Investigative Reporter Annie Wylde is taking to the woods to keep a promise to a friend who is the victim of a serial murderer Annie has nicknamed “The Hunter.” She’s going to scatter some of her friend’s ashes, then examine her notes to see if there’s anything she can do to help identify the monster who has been killing young women.

Annie is a city girl, however, and she’s not really looking forward to this trip. What she doesn’t expect on her wilderness vacation is Sam Kincaid, a former major leaguer who is now helping tourists fulfill their dreams of trekking into the wild.

After an accident leaves him unable to play baseball, Sam hopes that working in the family business will keep him on the straight and narrow. When he meets Annie he’s instantly attracted, unfortunately she’s not interested.  After they’ve spent some time together, though, Annie warms up to Sam. Then strange things begin to happen and Annie wonders if The Hunter has followed her on her trip. For his part, Sam is worried about keeping Annie, and the rest of the tour group, safe and proving he can do something right.

Primal Obsession is full of interesting characters. I loved Annie’s spunk and her loyalty to her slain friend. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to be on the trip, but she makes the best of it. For his part Sam is delicious and I wondered how Annie resisted as long as she did.

Susan Vaughan expertly weaves the investigation into the story, going between the wilderness trip and the city as we watch the story unfold. I did figure out the identity of the killer fairly early, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of this story.

Readers who like romantic suspense will enjoy Primal Obsession.