From the very beginning this book grabbed my attention.

"Come on." Jennie Wilson held tight to her son's hand as they crept down the back steps of the house.
A house where they had been held for hours. Nearly a whole day, if she'd correctly tracked the rise and subsequent fall of the sun.
"Run, Nate. Stay right by me."

Starting out in the middle of an action scene usually doesn't interest me because I don't know the characters. Why would I worry about people I just met and had no clue who they are?

However, I found out instantly that these characters were scared. This mother was in a position where she had to protect her 9 year-old son. That's what drew me in. There was a child to worry about and mother who would do almost anything to protect him.

Her past seemed to have caught up to her. For some reason these people were trespassing on her land even though she had nothing to do with her family's shady business. All she wanted was to make a safe home for her son. All the things she went through as a child had no place in her son's life and she was going to do everything she could to protect him from it.

More ghosts of the past came in the form of a cop, Patrick - her son's father. Someone she thought had abandoned her. She comes to find out that there was more behind his leaving then she knew and that what she had been believing all this time had been lies.

Patrick didn't know about his son until he and his canine Tucker had been called in to find and rescue Jennie and Nate. He swooped in and rescued them getting them to safety. Except now he had to deal with the knowledge that he had a son and had missed years of his life. How could he forgive Jennie for keeping him from that?

Thus began an emotional journey of moving on from the past. Wrestling with feelings that has never gone away. Forgiving each other for what happened in their complicated past. Finding out why these people were trespassing and why the local police hadn't done much about it. All while trying to protect those they loved.

It was a war and each battle left the main characters further from where they wanted to be. The doubted if they would ever be safe or if they would ever be able to become a family, which they desperately wanted.

Yes, there was a bit of romance between the main characters, they had always loved each other. It was easy for them to fall back in love, even though they had both changed and been through so much. They weren't dependent on each other, they both chose to rely on God for their protection. At times this was hard for them to do, they had to let go of what little control they actually had on the situation and trust that God would get them through.

It would have been very easy for the author to let the rekindling of that old flame overshadow the intensity and danger of what was going on. She wrote it in just the right way that it was there, but it was realistic. They were in danger, their child was their main focus. Going through their issues and rediscovering each other didn't take first place. Safety had to come first.

Watching the relationships among them all develop gave the book just enough break between the suspenseful moments that it was east to relax. But, you never forgot about what got them where they were. The danger was always just around the corner. You couldn't get too comfortable before the characters were thrown right back into the madness of running for their lives.

Fast paced and an amazing story made this book fly by, all too soon it was over. Bittersweet. That would be a decent word to describe finishing this book. I was happy with where the story ended, I loved being captivated within it as it played out. But now? What now? That's the sign of a good book, feeling a loss when you finish it. Usually I only experience that when I finish a series, yet this novel gave me the same feeling.

At times the writing was a little bit choppy, maybe trying to create tension, but it didn't work out that way. What mistakes may be in it are easily forgivable and easy to overlook.

Fans of Second Chance Romance, Suspense, Christian Fiction, and Sweet Romance would enjoy this book. I think that it will appeal to a lot of people just because there is so much to it. It isn't just a romance or just a suspense novel, it has a decent mix of everything.

This book makes me want to read more from the author and the publishers. I can't thank the author enough for providing me with a free copy of this book. I gladly am leaving this review and I hope to read more from this author soon. ( )