Sheriff Andrea Shepard, in a nice counterpoint to all those macho sheriffs, is ensuring that nobody drives home drunk from a wedding in a park on Sanctuary Island, Virginia. My kind of girl. Let's see what she gets up to in HEARTBREAK COVE.

Andie is no soft touch. She cut her teeth raiding drug dealers' hideouts back in Louisville and now keeps the island's young people on the straight and narrow. Six months after he met her at that wedding, Sam Brennan is hoping she won't notice him as he takes the ferry back to the island, along with his favourite mare. Sam doesn't need the law looking over his shoulder. But the mare causes chaos at disembarkation time and someone summons the sheriff. The island is home to a herd of feral horses, but this mare is a different matter, a rescue horse in need of a new life. Sam intends to retrain her - if he can get her off the boat in one piece.

To complicate matters deliciously, Andie's brother Owen phones her. He's newly discovered that he's the parent of an eight-year-old girl, Caitlin, whose mother was briefly his girlfriend before he enlisted and who recently died in a car crash. This new young member of the family is on her way to Sanctuary Island, where Andie will be expected to care for her. Talk about a life-changing moment. Andie had volunteered to help at an equine therapy centre but if Sam is going to be there too, she's not sure it's a great idea. She doesn't need any more distractions, and he's got somewhat of a reputation where women are concerned.

I relaxed into this story very quickly and while the adults skirting around each other is amusing, the great point is that they decide it's time somebody put shy, distrusting Caitlin first. And what Caitlin wants is to be around horses. There's a smart girl. All is not permanent even for Andie; she wasn't born on this island, and a young man from the community is running against her for sheriff. Sam is laying low, but how long will that last? So there are plenty of tensions and twists to engage the reader.

Lily Everett has written Sanctuary Island and some of the characters reappear in this HEARTBREAK COVE series instalment, which is a thoroughly rewarding romance suitable for mature young adults or adults. Especially if you love horses.