Single mom, on the run finds a sexy bodyguard during a snow storm. I fell right into this story. Definitely would like to read more in this series.
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Good book. Janette is a waitress at a small café in a small town. She hasn't had an easy life, abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandmother. She quit school to take care of her grandmother when she became ill, but was determined to get her GED. At the beginning of the book, Janette is working her job at the café when the local sheriff comes in. He shows an inordinate amount of interest in the fact that she has a five month old son, terrifying Janette with his questions. There's definitely a feeling that there is history of some kind between them.

The next thing we see is that Janette has taken her son Sammy and is at the bus station in a town thirty miles away. She is determined to get as far away from the sheriff as she can. Unfortunately, the weather is working against her and the bus isn't running. Alone, with little money, she's not sure what to do until she sees a light shining through the snow. The building is West Protective Services and she remembers an article in the paper about how they helped someone. Taking a chance, she enters and asks for help.

Dalton has been working in the office almost exclusively for several months. After a bodyguard job that became more, and then ended, he's been avoiding getting involved with any other people. When Janette shows up, needing a place to stay for the night, and claiming she needs protection, he is reluctant to get involved. But something about her won't let him turn his back either.

Both Janette and Dalton are wary of each other and their circumstances. He suspects that what she tells him isn't the whole truth, but he'll take care of her for the few hours he needs to. When the storm turns out to be worse than expected, they are stuck with each other's company. Thanks to a nightmare, Janette opens up a little more about her problems, but still doesn't tell the whole truth until forced to do so by the arrival of the sheriff asking questions.

I liked the way that Dalton listened to what Janette had to tell him and didn't judge her. It was wonderful to see that, not only did he believe her, he was determined to keep her safe. Though he has insisted on being a loner for awhile, suddenly having Janette and Sammy around opens his eyes to how lonely his life has become. I loved seeing Sammy wiggle his way into Dalton's heart. I also liked the way that Dalton was so impressed by Janette's strength of will.

I liked Janette's devotion to her grandmother and her son. I was a bit worried about her at one point when she wanted to keep running as I thought she was stronger than that. She battled with herself as she tried to decide what to do, and I loved seeing the right thing come out on top.

The relationship between them developed really fast. I loved Dalton's reaction to what happened to her, and how gentle he was with her after he found out. The scene between them when he lets her be in charge was great. He's still intent on keeping her at a distance emotionally because he doesn't want to repeat the pain of his last relationship. Janette falls for him too, but believes that he wouldn't want something permanent with someone like her. I liked when he finally realized the truth and opened up completely to her.

The suspense of the story was really good. Sheriff Sinclair was an especially nasty kind of guy. His sense that he could do anything he wanted and get away with it made him really obnoxious. I liked seeing Dalton go up against him, and the vast difference in their attitudes. It was nervewracking to see how Sinclair used his office to pursue her, and how he even got Dalton's brother involved. The final confrontation was very intense, with me wondering how close it was going to be before Janette would be safe. The epilogue was a nice wrap up. ( )

Finally. FINALLY.

It's been awhile.

Why do I keep reading these little single parent romance novels? This book is the reason.

I loved this.

Usually I would have been doing literal facepalms at how stupid the characters or their actions were. That wasn't the case with this book. I outright understood Dalton's and Janette's actions or at least I could understand them based on their pasts or the present circumstances.

For all of Janette's pointing out how uneducated she is (there is a reason, but I wish she would have stopped – it doesn't equate to intelligence), she didn't run around like a flaky ditz like we so often see with these Heroines. Some actions of hers that I wouldn't have taken myself I understood were the actions of a mother/woman with a five-month-old baby.

I love that Cassidy didn't cop out on what happened to Janette. I've read stories where the writing makes it seem like a certain act occurred but then it ends up being something ridiculous because the author apparently couldn't go through with what they started. Nor did she get preachy or defensive about Janette's choices.

There were several adorable moments with Dalton and little Sammy that I just loved. He was smart. He almost always did or thought of what I thought he should. Actually, they both did. I was almost fist pumping. It was awesome. His reticence in the end felt somewhat drawn out, but I also think it was definitely necessary considering what he had been through the previous year.

I really had few complaints. Most of them weren't worth mentioning or even remembering. A few were spawned from my pessimism. For instance, I didn't get why she decided to wait until after dinner to play him the tape. And I wanted him to grab the tape and take off to make copies and lock up the original then immediately play it for his Sheriff brother. In my head a lot of things could have happened to that tape and I wanted it secured. While I'm on the subject I just want to say that it was a little weird to me that they had sex within five minutes of him hearing what was on the tape.

Some people may be disappointed with the climax, but I love that it was realistic, wasn't silly, and didn't overreach. I hate when an author writes him/herself into some big, epic showdown and can't deliver on it. What happened in this story was ultimately just right.

Honestly, I'm bullet pointing the negatives. I don't usually do this, but I don't really feel the need to get into them too much.
*There was a bit of repetition in the text. Several things were said exactly the same way a few times throughout the book. And honestly, he didn't need to be referred to as Sheriff Brandon Sinclair or Brandon Sinclair every single time his name was mentioned.

*They knew each other for not even a week and they were in love? I don't know why romance authors so often find it necessary to have the Hero and Heroine fall in love so quickly. Especially in a tense, life-threatening situation such as this. Dalton's fear was a legitimate one anyway, even without having had the prior experience. I would have been fine with them being really into each other and the book ending with them staying together to see where the relationship goes. It'd feel far more realistic to me.

*The epilogue was unnecessary. I'm not sure if the point was to give a wink and a nod to a previous book or give us more information on Janette and Dalton but I didn't need it. In fact, I was kind of WTF at one element of it. They got married in a month in a half? Why? That makes the insta-love even worse. Also, suddenly getting married two weeks before your sister's wedding? Oooh. I think weddings are ridiculous and I still think that's thunder-stealing.

The few negatives and the fact the story didn't have as much depth as it could have had (though I think we got a lot more depth than usual for this type of book) is the reason it's four stars instead of five. ( )