He's fighting for a second chance with his first
love…before it's too late.
The last time PI Blaze McClintock was on her family's
ranch, she left in handcuffs. She vowed then to never go home again…until her
estranged father is accused of murder. He's not a good man -- this entire
Montana town knows that. But Blaze believes her father is innocent and she'll
do anything to prove it, even ask the one man who broke her heart for help --
the only man in town who's on her side.
No matter how hard he tried, Jake Horn could never forget
Blaze. As teenagers, their passion ignited, leaving destruction in their wake.
Now, years later, it's obvious little has changed. But as they work together to
unravel what really happened that night, a dangerous secret threatens to
separate them for good. This time, though, Jake won't let Blaze go without a
fight -- even if it means risking his own life.
Good book. Blaze has not been home in many years thanks
to her estrangement from her father. But when she learns he was charged with murdering
a neighboring rancher, she heads for home. When she first arrives, Blaze
believes that Monte is guilty of the murder, but is determined that he have a
fair trial. It isn't long before Blaze changes her mind about his guilt and
turns her efforts to proving his innocence. Though it pains her to do so, she
will even accept ex-boyfriend Jake's help.
Jake hasn't been able to forget Blaze. He's more than
happy to help her with her investigation as it gives him the chance to spend
time with her. He is determined to do everything he can to prove his love to
her.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between
Blaze and Jake. Their previous relationship burned hot, disturbing both with
the strength of their feelings. Blaze took advantage of an incident with Jake
to break off the relationship. She's not happy at first to discover he was sent
by a mutual friend to help her. Though she claims to be over him, there is no
doubt about the sparks that still fly between them. But Blaze has trouble
trusting Jake's professed feelings after witnessing the disintegration of her
parents' marriage. She doesn't believe that love lasts. As they worked together,
Blaze's feelings for Jake grew, but she was afraid to acknowledge them. I loved
Jake's patience and persistence as he showed Blaze how he felt in many
different ways. There were some sweet scenes as he took care of her, and some
steamy ones as the sparks between them continued to grow. Jake refused to give
in to those sparks without Blaze's admission of her feelings, creating some volatile
moments. I liked the conversation between Blaze and Monte that helped put some
of her fears to rest, but it was nearly losing each other forever that pushed
Blaze past those fears. I liked Jake's big moment, even though it wasn't quite
what he'd planned.
The suspense of the story was terrific. I was a little
surprised that Blaze believed Monte was guilty when she first came back. But it
didn't take long for her to pick up on the clues that Monte was likely
protecting someone by pleading guilty. Blaze accepted Jake's help in
investigating after realizing that it wasn't going to be easy to discover the
truth. Monte was not a popular man, and many were more than willing to believe
he was guilty. At the top of that list was the sheriff, who had a long-standing
grudge against Monte. The deeper that Blaze and Jake delved into the past, the
more suspects they found for Frank's murder. They also stirred up a veritable
beehive of trouble, resulting in several attempts on their lives. The tension
increased the closer they got to the truth. The final confrontation was
intense, with a couple of unexpected revelations. There was also the secondary
mystery of what had really happened to Blaze's mother, which drove the
sheriff's vendetta against Monte. The resolution of that question was very well
done.
I loved the depth of characterization of the people of
Saddle Butte. It was interesting to see the number of secrets that were present
in this small town and how pulling one thread unraveled so many of them.
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