Late one snowy winter evening, veterinarian Justin Hart is doing his accounting when he sees a car sliding. There's been an accident, and the pregnant woman who was driving is nearly hysterical because she's positive she hit a dog. Justin goes looking for the dog, who is also pregnant. He is alone and he must ask the woman, who is actress Alyssa Cole, to help him if they are going to save the dog's life. Alyssa was kicked out by her famous agent husband; she has no money, no place to go, and soft- hearted Justin takes her in.

CLOSE TO HEART is book 3 in the amazing Healing Harts series, and although characters encountered in the previous instalments appear, CLOSE TO HEART can easily be read as a standalone. In spite of Ms. Kline's tremendous writing skills, I was a touch apprehensive at the idea of a romance featuring a pregnant woman; it would have been without counting on the author's storytelling genius. CLOSE TO HEART is again different in tone from books 1 and 2, and it is an extremely compelling read because of the remarkably complex characters that are Justin and Alyssa, and the depth of character development throughout the book.

The rescued dog and her puppies play an important part in the relationship between Julian and Alyssa, albeit inadvertently. Alyssa is very reserved and reluctant to reveal her past to Justin, but as she does, we learn that the movie star's personal life was far from glamorous. One plot twist took me completely by surprise, and seriously complicated Alyssa and Julian's budding romance. Alyssa and Julian's love bloomed gradually, growing from their mutual attraction and their friendship, but Julian's stubbornness threatens to destroy everything they started to build and it's painful to witness.

CLOSE TO HEART is a carefully constructed story, beautifully written, and Ms. Kline handles sensitively the rather delicate subject of a couple falling in love while the woman is expecting another man's child. And I'm very much looking forward to Bailey's story!