After listening to [b:Her Last Chance|18805904|Her Last Chance (Her, #2)|Toni Anderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1384474516s/18805904.jpg|26736544], the second in this series (yes, I read series out of order, all the time), I wanted to listen to this one. Nat Sullivan is a different kind of romantic hero than Marsh Hayes, and Elizabeth Ward is likewise a very different person than Josephine Maxwell. Once again, though, we have two strong, determined characters who don't quit in the face of trouble and danger.

The events of this book are hinted at in its sequel, but here we get the full account--Elizabeth and Nat's story, but also the missing bits of Josie and Marsh's story. Elizabeth and Nat are the main event here, though, and we follow the terrifying events that bring her to the Sullivan ranch, under a false name, in hiding from the mafia.

Nat's family faces its own serious challenges. A year or two ago, everything was looking great. Nat made good money as a nature photographer; they had plans to make the ranch into a stud farm, and to take in paying guests.

Then his father got sick. His illness and death ran up medical bills that nearly bankrupted them, and now they're struggling to keep the ranch at all. Elizabeth, under her assumed name, is their first paying guest, and there's a neighbor who wants to use their money crunch to force them out, for reasons that gradually become clear. Nat's mother, Rose, is also dying, of heart disease, and younger brother Ryan is a single father grieving the death of his wife. Their sister Sarah is a doctor, working at the local hospital, and a solid, kind, generous person.

Elizabeth quickly comes to care far too much about these people, and dreads bringing her mob pursuers down on them. The more she comes to care about Nat and his family, the more she knows she needs to leave.

Meanwhile, her FBI colleagues, led by Marsh Hayes, are hunting for her, too, disagreeing with her theory that she's safer if even they don't know where she is.

Once again, Anderson gives us smart, tough, vulnerable human beings, both men and women, who don't always make the right choices, but whose choices are grounded in decency and kindness. It's a very solid romantic suspense story, and you won't regret the time spent with these characters.

Highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

I loved this story! It's a romantic suspense but so much more.

Elizabeth Ward was undercover for a long time when things started to go bad. She had to get out of there - fast; before the Mob caught her. So she took off to a working/vacation ranch in Montana, changing her name. After a sad childhood, Elizabeth became a strong woman. That paid off in her job with the FBI and her escape from the ones hunting her. But the ranch was nothing like she expected. She thought she could just hide out there, but instead, she was treated like part of the family. That was hard enough for her to handle but when she started having feelings for Nat Sullivan she didn't know what to do.

Nat was a wildlife photographer who came back to the family ranch when his mother was ill. His siblings can't help with the ranch so it's up to him to keep it afloat. But it's run down and money is scarce so when Elizabeth shows up he can't turn her away even though he knows she's going to be a lot of trouble. If he only knew.

What a terrific book! It had me on the edge of my seat wondering if Elizabeth would stay hidden from the Mob. Would this troubled pair give in to their feelings for each other? It was so well written that I didn't want to put it down. Even with all the story twists and all the bad guys (even some of the good guys weren't so good), it was easy to follow the story. The characters were incredible. I liked that Elizabeth was so competent in getting away and also in working on the ranch - which she had never done before. Nat was a great guy, giving up his career to run the family ranch. It was good to see him work through his past issues so he could move on. We met Josie, Elizabeth's best friend, and Marsh, her FBI boss. They got together briefly and I understand the next book is about them. That's my next purchase. ( )

Multiple character driven suspense that ends up with each on a path that intersects to a deadly showdown.

Elizabeth Ward’s FBI undercover op went wrong in so many ways and now she on the run from the Mob. She ends up on a ranch in Montana in hopes of hiding out. Elizabeth had a tragic childhood and combine that with what went down on the FUBAR op, she a little broken inside. But beneath all the pain is a woman that can kick butt and take names. The last thing she needs is to be attracted to the sexy rancher Nat when she knows her life expectancy isn’t looking to good.

Nat Sullivan is on the verge of losing his family’s ranch. His mom’s health is not good, his widower brother is grieving with booze and women leaving the raising of his young daughter to Nat and there sister. Along with the huge responsibilities of the ranch and his family, he’s also still bitter about a relationship and not very trusting of women. When Elizabeth shows up to rent one of his cabins he instantly knows this woman is running from trouble and wants no part of it. But it’s not too long before he realizes she has awakened something in him he thought was long dead, getting through to a woman holding her secrets pretty close to the vest isn’t easy.

The story bounces between the ranch, the Mob bad guy and Elizabeth’s FBI boss Marshall Hayes who’s trying to find her before the Mob does. The author did a great job with the three separate stories going on that eventually intersect at the end. There is a story arc started in this book between Marsh and Elizabeth’s best friend Josephine that’s going to be continued in their book Her Last Chance which comes out in December. I really liked Elizabeth and Nat’s story but I have to say that I cannot wait to read more about Marsh and Josephine.
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Romantic Suspense Book 1