Kelly Lawson loved her mother -- sure Shanna wasn't the run
of the mill parent but becoming a single mother at eighteen
and giving her daughter the best life made Kelly her
champion. After becoming Sand Points public affairs
officer, Kelly found herself battling an old boyfriend Ben
Santoni- now the new police chief. She and Ben had history
-- well if you could call dating one summer a history. Funny
thing was Ben still harbored ill feelings about Kelly
calling their short relationship off and running
off with a local fireman without even a thought about him.
If truth were known, Kelly was lucky Mitch was there for
her after her mother died. Who knows how her life would
have been without him.
Ben recently moved back from the
city and was having trouble readjusting to small town life
but with his young son in tow this was the right place to
be. But even small towns have their share of troubles and
Sand Point was now enmeshed in solving two murders and
threats to their mayor. The mayor's been finding parallels
between the two murders and the plot of a popular novel
which Kelly finds absurd since as the anonymous author she
knows they are merely a coincidence. The two victims don't
seem to have anything in common. Ben has to get to the
heart of these crimes in order to calm the fears of the
locals and of course protect them and his family. He had to
prove himself to the town and the mayor whose brother who
held the position for a time seemed very willing to move
back into the office.
Ben and Kelly would make an excellent
team in this investigation if only they could get past
their vitriolic relationship. Ben seems unable to get past
Kelly's childhood with the towns slut for a mother. And
Kelly won't forgive him. But Ben is concerned that, although
he doesn't truly believe the books have any connection with
the murders, he is worried whether the author is in any
danger. And the more he voices his concern, the more anxious
Kelly becomes. Is there someone
out there with targeting Kelly or is she just
overreacting to Ben's continuing concern for the author's
well being? Being thrown together is forcing them to
realize their youthful attraction may not have been as
fleeting as they had believed. But at the end of the day,
can they get past their differences and fashion a future
together? Ben's goal is to keep Kelly safe but that will
ultimately test their resolve to keep their lives separate
-- Kelly to protect her already fragile heart, and Ben to
protect his son from getting too close to Kelly.
Julianna Morris keeps us well entertained with the playful,
sometimes caustic, but always enjoyable banter between the
two strong leading characters in the story. The dialog is
believable and makes it hard to chose sides.
For Ben Santoni, however, it's anything but straightforward.
Kelly Lawson isn't the sweet girl he remembers. She's
tougher now, and her icy demeanor makes it clear she hasn't
forgiven him. So, fine, he'll keep his distance even though
her attitude challenges his role as police chief.
But when a murderer strikes and Kelly is threatened,
personal feelings can't come into play. It's Ben's duty to
protect her, and that's what he'll do. As the case
progresses, objectivity becomes impossible. Because
suddenly, Ben wants far more than just to keep her safe….
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