When teenager Irene Stenson sneaks into the house after
curfew, her life is changed forever. She discovers both her
parents dead on the kitchen floor, an apparent
murder/suicide. Whisked away after the funeral to live with
an aunt, Irene loses track of the town of Dunsley and
everyone she knew there.
Seventeen years later, Irene is reluctantly drawn back to
Dunsley when she receives an e-mail from an old friend,
Pamela Webb, who's rich, spoiled and the daughter of a U.S.
Senator on the road to the White House. Pamela and Irene
were best friends the summer Irene's parents died. Never
believing that her father shot her mother and then turned
the gun on himself, Pamela's e-mail gives Irene hope that
the truth is still out there...if only she can find it. Now
a reporter for a small newspaper, Irene packs a bag and
heads to Dunsley and her rendezvous with Pamela.
Ex-marine Luke Danner moved to Dunsley hoping to find a
little peace and quiet in the small town. He couldn't have
been more wrong. Luke is the proud owner of Sunrise on the
Lake Lodge, purchased strictly for investment purposes, not
because he is or wants to be a hospitable innkeeper. Luke's
life starts getting a lot more interesting the night Irene
checks in. First the pair finds Pamela's body. The next
night Pamela's house burns down, and Irene and Luke are the
prime suspects. Luke's goal is to keep Irene safe, but this
course of action only draws him deeper and deeper into the
type of sticky situation he had hoped to avoid by moving to
Dunsley. Still, Luke can't bring himself to let Irene
investigate on her own. Drawn to this haunted and prickly
woman, Luke finds himself in the middle of a twisted case
of murder and blackmail that eventually leads to the
doorstep of some of the most powerful men in the country.
A new Jayne Ann Krentz novel! What's not to like? A
plucky heroine, an alpha male, a solid story told by a
tried and true storyteller - Krentz always entertains. Come
January, you'll see her name above the title and pick it up
without hesitation. It's comforting to have a handful of
authors whose books can be bought with complete confidence
that you as a reader won't be disappointed!
Shy, studious Irene Stenson and wild, privileged Pamela
Webb had been the best of friends for one short high
school summer. Their friendship ended the night Pamela
dropped Irene off at home - and Irene walked in to
discover her parents' bodies on the kitchen floor. It was
ruled a murder-suicide, and Irene fled the northern
California town of Dunsley. But 17 years later,
when Pamela sends a cryptic email asking for help, Irene
returns to her hometown to find her old friend has died
suddenly, leaving behind a lot of ugly, unanswered
questions.
Caught up in a firestorm of desperate deceit and long-
buried secrets, Irene knows it would probably be smarter
to just pack up and leave Dunsley behind again, but her
reporter's instinct - and her own hunger to know the
truth - compel her to extend her stay at the local lodge.
Even more compelling is the man who runs the place - a
hazel-eyed ex-Marine who's as used to giving orders as
Irene is to ignoring them.
Luke Danner can see the terror beneath Irene Stenson's
confident exterior - and he is intent on protecting her.
But he is also driven by passions of his own, and together
they will risk far more than local gossip to sort out what
happened to Pamela Webb, and what really happened on that
long-ago summer night...