Kate is a feisty fishing boat captain, as newbie Lt Craig Cole finds out when she's issued a safety violation that she feels is wrong. Both have lost their spouse and have young daughters. But can they put aside hesitancies about loving again? ( )

I've read other Irene Hannon books and liked them, so I had hopes when I chose this book from my stack of books. But what does it say about a book when I read the first page and wonder if I've already read it (I hadn't according to my online shelves)? To me, that means that the author is using a plot that's been done enough times already, that it better really wow me if you want an above average rating--this book did not meet that criteria. There were times I wanted to throw up my hands over the two main characters and tell them to get their acts together!

Yes, I feel bad for both adults that they lost their spouses and for both children for the loss of their parent. Yes, I realize that grief is hard. Not wanting to experience that pain again is real.

I disliked how Craig had dealt with his daughter in his grief up to this point. It seemed he left her care mostly up to relatives or nannies. I can understand how that happened in the midst of grief and depression and blaming himself. I like that he realizes he's done wrong and wants to make it right. I like how he answers his daughter's questions later in the book, especially when she asks him about him dying. I thought he did a good job when they were talking about his wife/her mom and that it made Craig sad when he thought of her and when he mentioned Vicki's hair color being like her mom's I didn't think anything of it. I certainly didn't expect Vicki to try to cut and color her own hair later so her daddy wouldn't be sad.

Kate: I felt like she came off as a bit entitled in the first scene. She just flew into a temper. I don't know boating laws so I don't know if there's a proviso that says flares can be used past their expiration date. She was obviously in the wrong but yet she expects them to bend the rules for her. Instead of asking for what she wanted or inquiring whether there was a way to expunge this from public record, she just flies off the handle. Hardly the person I'd want to hire to take me out on the water if this was the only scene I'd witnessed.

I see another reviewer mentioned Kate leaving her daughter with Craig by the parking lot. It didn't bother me at the time I read it, but now that I reflect on it, Kate really didn't know Craig that well at that point and even though he's a person in uniform, I'm not so sure about that level of trust developing that quickly.

Edith: I like that she is willing to help out with childcare and she seems to do a good job with that. In other areas though, she seems a bit too involved--almost a busybody. She's trying to play matchmaker with Craig and Kate, even going so far as to advise Kate to wear an outfit that she knows Kate really doesn't like. I kind of felt like she interfered at times. ( )