Important life lesson -- not really that important how others see you -- but how you see yourself. Inside and out what's really important is about who you are not what you portray to outside world. Sometimes it's difficult to see beyond that carefully crafted façade but when someone cares they can.

On the outside Griffin York was gruff, unfriendly and hard. But that's not what Nora saw.

The search for the Sullivan's mother has a different focus now that her body was discovered. Tori, Nora and Layne face the truth that their mother didn't desert them eighteen years ago -- she was murdered and dumped in the woods. The hurt and anger quickly morphed into a bone chilling sadness and remorse for harboring ill thoughts of a woman who had not run away with a lover but probably died at his hands. The previous missing person's case has now become a murder investigation and the leading suspect is her lover Dale York.

The harsh reality is that the case may never be solved after all these years and Layne,now the Assistant Police Chief, has failed to locate Dale who had disappeared that night as well. Their only hope seems to be gaining information from Dale's son Griffin.

Nora decides to take matters into her own hands and finds a unique way to establish contact and a relationship with Griffin which in no way meets with approval from her family. Griffin has made himself a place in Mystic Point as the owner of the local garage -- not that he feels accepted but he has made his peace with that.

His first close-up encounter with Nora leaves him with the impression she was a smart ass devil-in-angels disguise. Tough and soft at the same time with an agenda that is sure to drive him nuts with her incessant questions about his father's whereabouts. As far as Nora is concerned she is unprepared to discover that Griffin was just about the most beautiful man she has ever seen. She is driven and stubborn, he thinks she is just nuts but the die is cast.

Griffin feels that Nora hiring a private investigator would just be a waste of time and money. Finding Dale might not bring any more insight into her mother's death, even though Griffin is very aware of how violent his father could be. What neither one counted on was the evil can of worms that would present itself once Dale shows himself. And Griffin is determined to protect Nora from the man who stood to cause both their families even more damage.

Wow, ON HER SIDE, the second installment in the Sullivan series starts off with a bang and is unrelenting straight to the last page. Needless to say the third and last in the series is on my must have list. This series will definitely put Beth Andrews on the romantic suspense map.