carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I liked this book quite a bit. As a long time fan of Sandra Brown, I am always excited anytime a new book is released. I can't think of another writer of romantic suspense that can even compare to Sandra Brown. This book really grabbed a hold of me from the very beginning and I could not wait to see how everything would come together in the end. This wasn't my favorite Sandra Brown novel but it is a very entertaining and solid story.

Crawford Hunt is in court in an attempt to regain custody of his daughter when the unthinkable happens...a gunman enters the courtroom and opens fire. Crawford immediately jumps into action protecting the judge and chasing the suspect. He soon finds himself in the middle of an investigation where every one of his actions is met with suspicion and criticism.

Holly is the judge that was hearing Crawford's case when the gunman entered the courtroom. She is grateful to Crawford for protecting her during the ordeal. Holly is in middle of a campaign in the hopes of holding onto her position as judge. She knows that she should stay away from Crawford but keeps finding herself being pulled to him and the search for the gunman.

As I have come to expect in a Sandra Brown novel, this book was fast paced with a lot of action. The book opens with a bang and the excitement only increased from there. I thought the second half of the book was very strong and the ending was wonderfully executed. The characters in this book were colorful and interesting, with a couple of individuals that meant to be hated. I didn't really feel the chemistry between Crawford and Holly at first but by the end of the story I was won over.

I really had some trouble understanding why everyone in this story had so many issues with Crawford's actions. Yes, he chased the gunman to the roof of the building. What was he supposed to do? Let him get away? It seemed like he couldn't do anything right. If he hadn't chased the gunman, he would have been criticized for that decision. I just don't like the parts of the book that focused on tearing his actions apart.

I did like Holly and Crawford together by the end of the book but this was a couple that I had some trouble with at the beginning. Holly was very focused on maintaining her ethical code so I find it a bit of a jump that she would get involved with Crawford in the first place. I really didn't feel that much chemistry between the pair in the beginning of the story either.

I would highly recommend this book to fans of romantic suspense. Sandra Brown is an author that is not to be missed and I cannot wait to read more of her work.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
This wasn't my favorite Sandra Brown novel but still an enjoyable read. I ended up liking the second half of the book a lot more than the first.