In SAFE AT LAST, Zack Covington is still in love with his high school
sweetheart, Anna-Grace. They were going to get married, he was
going to play pro ball for a few years, and then they'd have a
family. Their love for one another is what kept them
inseparable. Anna-Grace, or Gracie as Zack had always
called her, was not from a good home. Her absent mother
placed her care into the hands of her Uncle. When he died, Zack helped Gracie
find a motel and a job.
Zack was away at college, and when he returned to Gracie,
she was gone.
The last 12 years, Zack had used his law enforcement
connections and his position with the security firm DSS
to look for Gracie. When DSS finishes up a security
detail involving a 16-year-old girl, Zack can't help but
think back to Gracie. Their next case takes them
to an art studio to supply a security presence for a
planned art show. When Zack sees the last painting being
delivered for the show, his heart leaps into his throat.
The painting is a perfect rendition of a place that was
special to him and Gracie. When he presses for more
information about the artist, the DSS team is asked to
leave.
Just as the team is about to leave, the artist barges into
the studio, changing her mind about displaying the last
painting. The artist turns out to be Gracie. Not
only is Gracie alive and well, she is a shell of the
woman he once knew. The love that once shown in her eyes
for him is now replaced with horror and fear. She blames
him for ruining her life, and he has no idea why.
When an enemy of DSS surfaces and targets Gracie to send
the team a message, Zack must convince Gracie to go into
hiding with him in order to protect her. But the last
thing she wants is to be near him.
SAFE AT LAST is Book 3 in Maya Banks' Slow Burn series.
The novel can
also be read as a standalone. I have not read the
previous books in the series, but I was able to follow
along rather easily. I absolutely loved reading Gracie
and Zack's story. Maya Banks creates a perfect love
between these two high school sweethearts. The title
to this book is absolutely perfect for their story.
They say young love doesn't last, but a girl from the wrong
side of the tracks with unique abilities and the hometown
golden boy were determined to defy the odds. For Zack
Covington, Anna-Grace—his "Gracie"—was the one.
Until one night forever alters the course of their future,
when a devastated Gracie disappears without a trace, leaving
Zack to agonize over what happened to the girl he loved. As
the years pass, his desperate efforts to find her uncovered
nothing.
Now working for Devereaux Security, he stumbles across a
painting featuring a special place only he and Gracie would
know. The image is too perfectly rendered for it to be
coincidence. His Gracie must be alive. When he finally
tracks her down, he is shocked—and
heart-broken—to discover the wounded shell of the girl
he once knew and still loves. Her psychic gifts are gone,
and worse, she believes he betrayed her all those years ago.
Zack has enemies, and once his weakness is discovered,
Gracie becomes a target for revenge. He'll have to save her
before he can earn her trust and her love. And he vows
they'll never be torn apart again.