Series:
Colt Brothers Investigations (Book 3)
Could a second chance at forever become a ransom demand?
Former rodeo star Davy Colt traded his competition spurs
for a PI license. But even after years away, he never stopped loving hometown
sweetheart Carla Richmond. A robbery and hostage situation at the Lonesome bank
leaves the loan officer injured and shattered. With the escaped culprit still
at large, Davy will ransom his heart to the hilt to avert a deadly Christmas
for Carla and their long-overdue reunion.
Good book, but let me start by correcting some things
from the synopsis. Davy is NOT a former rodeo star. When the book opens, he has
come home to spend the holidays with his brothers before returning to the rodeo
circuit. Nor has he gotten a PI license. It is correct that he never stopped
loving his high school sweetheart, Carla.
Ten years earlier, after graduation, Davy told Carla he
was going on the rodeo circuit rather than going to college with her. He wanted
her to marry him and come along. But Carla didn't want to give up her dreams
either and gave Davy an ultimatum: her or the rodeo. Both were broken-hearted
but went their separate ways. After college, Carla returned to Lonesome to take
care of her mother and took a job at the local bank. After her mother's death,
Carla stayed on, choosing her career and stability.
Fast forward to the present day. Carla has never
forgotten Davy and her feelings for him. She sometimes wonders what would have
happened if she'd gone with him. When she runs into one of his brothers, she
asks about Davy, which gets back to him. This motivates him to pay her a visit
at the bank, hoping they may try again. Unfortunately for Davy, the meeting
doesn't go well, as Carla is still entrenched in place, and he is still a rodeo
cowboy. It looks like history repeats itself, as neither one seems interested
in compromising. That changes when Carla is injured during a bank robbery, and
Davy is determined to protect her.
The story's suspense is a little different than usual, as
we know who the bad guys are from the beginning. The villain's motivation is
clear, as well as how desperation leads to stupid decisions. The villain's
psychotic girlfriend complicates matters. Carla sees something during the bank
robbery that puts a target on her back, and Davy is determined to keep her
safe. Carla is at a disadvantage because the FBI agents investigating the case
believe it was an inside job and fixate on Carla as their prime suspect.
Despite the information she provides the agents, they seem uninterested in
pursuing any other line of investigation.
While Davy's PI brothers go to work looking into the
information Carla knows, Davy and Carla set out to do some investigating of
their own. The villain's girlfriend is incredibly determined to stop Carla
permanently, and the number and intensity of the attacks on Carla escalate
throughout the book. The final confrontation was a nail-biter that kept me
glued to the pages until it was over. I admit that I would like to have seen
the FBI agents with egg on their faces over their incompetence, but they seem
to get off easy.
I liked seeing the rekindling of Carla and Davy's
relationship. Davy freely admits to his brothers that he never stopped loving
Carla. Unfortunately, Carla fights her feelings from the start. She feels
guilty about how she treated him back in the day but is still convinced there
is no future for them. Davy won my heart with his tender and determined care for
her, while I wanted to shake Carla for being so stubborn. But when it was time
for Davy to return to the rodeo, Carla had a decision to make. Does she go with
Davy or play it safe? For Davy, is it time to quit the rodeo or stick it out a
few more years? Each battles pride and heart before realizing that love is the
most important thing they have.
The series mystery involves getting to the truth behind
their father's death. They suspect a cover-up by the former sheriff but have no
proof. Very little was addressed in this book. The final brother, Willie, joins
the sheriff's department at the end here, putting him in a position to investigate
further.
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