Good book about two people who must overcome painful pasts to move on to a better future. Alma was a successful anthropologist until her jealous husband turned to abuse. She escaped the marriage, moved home to Battle Mountain, and became a reserve officer with the Battle Mountain police department. Though she is friendly to those she meets, Alma keeps a distance between herself and others, unable to trust enough to open her heart. Cree is a bomb tech in another town who moved to Battle Mountain to escape the guilty memories from a bombing he couldn't prevent. He's isolated himself, trusting no one else.

The book's explosive opening sucked me into the story, and didn't let go until I'd read the last page. Alma was sent to check out reports of suspicious activity in a gulch, where she found a woman with a bomb sewn to her body. Alma barely escaped with her life. Her only clue to identifying the body is a sliver of bone. Cree heard the bomb blast, and even though he was on a leave of absence from his unit, he still rushed to the site and offered his services. Seeing his neighbor, Alma, involved stirs his protective instincts.

While others investigate the bombing, Alma is determined to identify the victim. If she can do that, it should lead to the who and why behind it. The investigation quickly becomes complicated when the bomber sets more explosives to cover their identity. Then the bomber targets Alma herself. From destroying the contents of Alma's apartment to capturing Alma and attempting to turn her into a living bomb, the story's intensity increases the closer Alma and Cree get to identifying them. Alma's methods were intriguing, bringing in her past work as an anthropologist. The final confrontation was a nail-biter that kept me glued to the pages until it was over. Alma's determination and Cree's protectiveness came together in a heart-pounding scene.

I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Alma and Cree develop. Neither is looking for love. Alma is still dealing with the aftereffects of her abusive marriage. Cree is wrapped up in the guilt he still feels over his last case. I loved Cree's protectiveness toward Alma and his sensitivity to what she went through. I liked seeing them grow closer as they worked together. Sharing what they'd experienced helped each break down the walls that kept their feelings locked up. It takes nearly losing each other to open their eyes to what has been missing in their lives. I liked the ending and seeing them look forward to a future together.

The end of the book and the epilogue introduced a new character - ATF agent Kendric Hudson. A former coworker of Cree's, it looks like he will stick around Battle Mountain. I liked how he encouraged Cree to follow his heart and provided some straight talk about the case that injured them. He will likely be the focus of the next book of the series. ( )

Wow! I so enjoyed this intriguing romance.I bought this at a local store and I voluntarily chose to review this book. I've given this a 5* rating. This was a fast read and it pulled me into the story real fast and kept dragging me on to keep up with what was going on. I loved these two main characters and their pain was hard to take sometimes. It was full of feels and violence but our world would be a better place with people like these, protecting us. This is the second of this author's work and they just keep getting better. ( )