As the book begins, we meet Susan who is battered by her husband Dirk. She just barely escapes with her life, but her unborn daughter is not so lucky. Her husband is caught and put in prison, but Susan is still in danger from the rest of the members of the drug cartel that Dirk is a part of. She is placed in witness protection by the FBI and her name is changed to Rachel Carson. It is 5 years later and she is being relocated again...Dirk is on the loose and could find her at any moment. Her FBI handler Brenda tells her whe is going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, somewhere Dirk would not think to look for her. When she arrives, she immediately meets Cade Garson, the local sheriff, at the scene of an accident. His friend was involved in the accident and she dies as a result, leaving her daughter Jenny in Cade's care, as he is the appointed godfather. Rachel gets involved right away, wanting to help, but also trying to fill the void in her own life. As she gets to know Jenny, Cade, and Cade's family, she can't help but fall for them. She finds that her and Cade both have known loss in their lives and have much in common. But she wonders if she will ever get to live the life she wants knowing that her ex-husband could find her and kill her and everyone she loves.

My opinion: I had very high hopes for this book by reading the synopsis. The story really sounds intriguing, a woman on the run from a man who has caused her unimaginable pain; learning to trust again and start her life over, while the threat of her ex-husband still looms over her. However, I really could not develop a connection with the characters. Background was given on Rachel (Susan), Cade, and Dirk of course, but it did not help me connect with them. A lot of the details were inserted numerous times (the fact that she was originally from a farm in Iowa, for example), which I didn't feel was exactly necessary. Also, the conversations between Rachel and other people (Cade, her mom, Brenda) were almost the same every time; it gave me a serious case of deja vu. For example, when talking to Brenda, it was always along the lines that she felt that she shouldn't stay with Cade because it put his whole family in danger; Brenda always assured her she should stay there. That same conversation happened about three times (or more) throughout the book. The same is true with the other characters. The story line skipped months at a time also, which was frustrating...what happened during all of the time we didn't get to hear about? There also were not a whole lot of meaningful conversations between Rachel and Cade, so it was hard to believe that they were in love with each other. I just didn't feel it, besides the fact that their internal dialogue kept indicating that they were falling for each other. I guess by the brief synopsis I also assumed it would be a little more suspenseful, but the few sections that were specific to Dirk and what he was up to were too few and far between and failed to get my blood pumping. I was very disappointed because I had very high hopes for this book but it just fell flat.
My rating: 2/5 stars ( )