Good slow-burn romance mixed with suspense. Her husband John and Grace bought a ranch and started sheep farming. Then John died, and Grace was left trying to do it alone. Mired in grief, Grace pulled in on herself, refusing help from anyone and determined to do it all. She quickly discovered that it was too much for one person to do and sold her flock to the neighboring rancher, Mitch, and leased him her land. When strange things started happening on her ranch, she turned to Mitch for help.

Mitch had been friends with Grace and John since they bought their ranch and frequently visited them. He was a successful rancher and always available for help or advice. He never let on that his feelings for Grace were far from neighborly, burying them deep because of her obvious love for her husband. When John died, Mitch worried about her but gave her the space she needed to grieve. When the trouble started, Mitch's protectiveness ramped up too.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Grace and Mitch. His understanding of her grief and patience as she worked through it was stellar. I felt for Grace and her unhappiness and was happy to see that some people didn't give up on her. After two years, there were signs that she might be ready to rejoin the living. The horseback riding around the ranch together was great, and I laughed a little to see Grace's shock when she started noticing Mitch as a man. Just as that happened, the trouble on her ranch started. I loved Mitch's determination to protect Grace. He didn't have an easy time convincing her to let him help. Grace's independent streak ran deep, and it took some blunt speech from Mitch to realize that accepting help wasn't always about her.

It became a moot point when she was injured during the fire at her ranch, and Mitch took her home with him. I loved watching them get to know each other. Mitch's happiness at having her there was evident. Grace had a slower time letting go of her grief, but the closer she got to Mitch, the more she realized she was ready to move on. But both were hesitant to declare their feelings, unsure of how the other one felt. It took nearly losing each other to break through their fears and admit their love. I loved the last scene in the book, which was very true to their personalities, and looked promising for their future. I would have liked an epilogue to catch up with them later. Maybe they'll appear in a later book.

The suspense was good and kept me turning the pages. The two stooges doing the dirty work weren't the brightest crayons in the box, but their methods were effective in causing trouble. We learn early on that the perp wants Grace off her property and is determined to chase her off. Mitch and Grace suspect an industrial ranching conglomerate of trying to force the sale. I liked the instincts that had Mitch, Grace, and the others suspecting that there was something off about the ewe's shooting. The tension ramped up when the barn burned, and everyone was on edge, waiting to see what would happen next. The final confrontation was intense, and I was glued to the pages until it was all over. Though I figured out the perp long before the reveal, it didn't reduce my enjoyment of the story. However, I thought the perp's motivation was pretty lame, and their actions were as poorly thought out as those of the flunkies.

There were a couple of editing/continuity errors that irritated me, but I've seen enough authors comment that typos happen no matter how many people read it through that I try to ignore them. ( )