Romantic Suspense published by Grand Central Publishing 25 Aug 20
As I’m sure most Sandra Brown fans do, I very anxiously await her next book every year. I know she will take me on a ride full of twists and turns, introduce me to characters with so many layers they all can’t be revealed, give me mystery after mystery, and seduce me with a romance that always feels as though it can’t and/or won’t flourish. I try to read her books slowly, to make them last, savor the story, but that intent always flies out the window once I’ve turned the first page.
Arden Maxwell has come home to Penton, Texas and dilapidated house where she grew up, mostly to get her life together now that it’s on a brand new road and also to figure out what happened to her father twenty years ago when he disappeared without a trace. She’s determined to remodel the old house, but her sister Lisa is dead set against her staying there, and it seems even the contractors she talks to are against her. Even Ledge Burnet.
Ledge was the town bad boy, in trouble more than his share. That led him to a stint in the military, coming home a hero – but even that’s not enough to erase memories in Penton. Especially because the grudge match between him and Rusty Dyle, the most corrupt DA you’ll meet, is still going strong. At first Ledge makes sure his path doesn’t cross with Arden’s, but fate and a mysterious stalker change his mind and he agrees to take on her project. It’s the only way he feels he can protect her.
Sandra Brown has a knack for writing heroes who skate on the edge of everything normal and legal in life. Ledge is mysterious, rough around every edge, cantankerous, and sexy as all get-out. Arden couldn’t resist him anymore than I could. Though she tried much harder than I did. Once these two are in each other’s space daily, the secrets begin to come out and figuring which way is up will make you every-which-way dizzy. You might be able to guess a thing or two as the story goes along, but I think Ms. Brown just gives those to you, all the while knowing she’s going to knock you for a loop just as you right yourself from those one or two reveals. So hang on to your hat, your shorts, whatever, you’re going to need the balance.
And you won’t be alone with all those feelings. Arden is right there with you most of the time, and this woman doesn’t back down. Even in the face of a killer, let alone all the unfathomable secrets she learns, she has a backbone of steel and a determination that won’t quit. I always love Sandra Brown heroines nearly as much as her heroes. Even through Arden’s unimaginable roller coaster ride through the past, she hangs on tight and fights for life and for Ledge, every bit as much as he fights for her.
If you’re a fan of this author, you will delight in this book just as you have others. If you’ve not read Sandra Brown before, what the heck?? You need to start now. She’ll deliver every time and never let you down. You’ll be up until the wee hours, turning pages faster than you have in the past. I can pretty much guarantee that.
Grade: A+
Summary:
Twenty years ago in the dead of night, four seemingly random individuals pulled the ultimate heist and almost walked away with half a million dollars. But by daybreak, their plan had been shot to hell. One of them was in the hospital. One was in jail. One was dead. And one got away with it.
Arden Maxwell, the daughter of the man who disappeared all those years ago — presumably with the money, after murdering his accomplice — has never reconciled with her father’s abandonment of her and her sister. After countless personal setbacks she decides to return to her family home near mysterious Caddo Lake, and finally get answers to the many questions that torment her. Little does she know, two of her father’s co-conspirators — a war hero and a corrupt district attorney — are watching her every move.
Ledge Burnet, a rebellious teen at the time of the heist, evaded his jail sentence by enlisting in the army. Now he’s back in town to care for his ailing father — and to keep his eye on the county’s corrupt district attorney, whom he suspects was the real murderer. Although the two are bound to silence because of the crime they committed together, each has spent years waiting and hoping that the other will make a fatal misstep. But the arrival of their elusive accomplice’s daughter, Arden, who may know more about the missing money than she’s telling, sets them both on red alert. She ignites Ledge’s determination to expose the D.A.’s treachery . . . and sparks a desire he wishes to deny.
No excerpt available.
