One shocking moment threatens two lives
What Warren Wright accidentally sees one night -- armed
men exhuming a body -- could cost him his life. Worse, he inadvertently
endangers his favorite barista, Jeannette Renfrew, in the process. Their only
option? Go on the run and try to save themselves. As they become targets of a
manhunt, they stumble upon a cold case with eerie connections to a murder…and
Warren's past. Do Warren and Jeannette dare fall in love as a deadly force
tries to silence them?
Good suspense story with a terrific romance. I enjoyed
reading a book with slightly more "mature" characters. Warren is
forty-one, a self-made man who put a troubled youth behind him and went from
construction worker to owning his own contracting business. He lives alone and
has never married. His longest "relationship" is his daily exchange
of pleasantries with the barista at his favorite coffee shop.
Jeannette is thirty-six and in the midst of her own
life-makeover. After a failed relationship, she moved to town, found a place to
live, and went back to school to get her teaching degree. She works at the
coffee shop with younger coworkers and often feels much older than they are.
She looks forward to Warren's daily visits and has developed a crush on him.
The story opens with a rush as a disgruntled Warren
returns to the latest construction site to retrieve his forgotten cell phone
and discovers two men digging up a body on the property. In fleeing the two
armed men, Warren takes refuge at Jeannette's coffee shop, unfortunately placing
her in danger. This was a nail-biter of an opening, as Warren and Jeannette
barely escaped with their lives. I was very impressed with Jeannette's calmness
in the crisis and how she kept her head. The action is non-stop from here, as Jeannette
and Warren struggle to stay ahead of their pursuers. Complicating matters,
Warren discovers an unexpected link to his past - and the guilt that has
weighed on him since the disappearance of his high school girlfriend.
I enjoyed the suspense of this story as Jeannette and
Warren put their minds to finding out what was going on. Each new bit of
information they uncovered led them closer to the truth and closer to danger. I
was glued to the pages as the final confrontation pit Warren's protectiveness
against Jeannette's stubbornness and both of them against a psychopathic killer.
While I was happy to see them come out on top, I was a little disappointed that
so little was said about what happened to the bad guy and his enablers.
I liked seeing the development of the relationship
between Warren and Jeannette. They've known each other for a couple of years, so
it isn't insta-love, but they haven't spent much time together either. Thanks
to his past, Warren tends to hold himself back from getting too close to anyone,
but he can't deny his fascination with Jeannette. He doesn't intend to do
anything about it because he feels he isn't good for her. He spends a lot of
time apologizing to her for getting her involved in the mess. I had fun
watching Jeannette stand up to Warren's protectiveness (aka machismo or misplaced
chivalry). She isn't a fragile flower and makes sure he knows it. I liked
seeing them get to know each other and trust each other enough to share their
pasts. The intensity of their situation also leads to a rapid escalation of
their attraction and the deeper feelings that develop with it. I loved the
ending and seeing them look forward to a future together.
I can't end the review without mentioning how much I
loved Jeannette's neighbor, Rosie. The feisty octogenarian was a hoot. She was
quick-witted and fearless in her protectiveness, and I laughed out loud at her
antics. Warren and Jeannette owed their lives to her.
