Well nearly 3 months into 2016 and my list of favorite books of the year continues to grow. But this one lands near the top of the stack for me. This is absolutely my kind of book and as I've said I think better than the first.

There is no doubt that Rex and Daniel's story was explosive but this for me dove deeper into the painful pasts of these characters and their connection both emotionally and physically were some of the most passionate I've read. Rafe could SEE Colin for the man he truly is.

“Armor,” he goes on. “Armor’s not dangerous. That’s for survival. It’s weapons you have to watch out for. And you—” He strokes my lips with his thumb. “It’s mostly armor, Colin. And when you’re with me, the armor falls away. Who you are without it… it’s beautiful.”

In addition to them is the ability to see Colin in a completely different way. To get his perspective on Daniel...On the reasons he was a bastard to his brother and while you want to hate Colin, I just couldn't. The scenes from book 1 retold here are some of the most amazingly written scenes and add to this an emotional discussion held between these two, I was just overwhelmed.

I wanted to hate the father...I did and yet I couldn't. This man emotionally died when his wife died and he was never the same. The death of their mother stole the heart and soul from this family and for any of these boys to find love and accept the love of another has been such a beautiful journey to see unfold. Brian, for me, was shattered in so many ways. I'd love his story as well.

I eagerly await more from Roan Parrish. She has a gift, there is no doubt.

*Highly Recommended*

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This story is part of York’s long-running 43 Light Street series for Harlequin Intrigue that began with #143 Life Line.

“She had lived a life of terror. A life of deprivation. A life in which nothing had been free or easy. She had learned how to get along in the world any way she could.”

That’s the first paragraph of the Prologue, and was certainly enough to keep me turning pages. Who is she, and where does she come from that is so terrible? We actually don’t find out the answers to those questions for a long time, since our heroine falls, practically into our hero’s lap, with no memory of who she is or where she comes from, only the certain knowledge that she must complete the task given her or thousands will die. A task which she cannot remember.

Our hero is one Max Dakota, or at least that’s the name he’s currently using. He happens to be fishing in Florida, not on holiday as an early retired dot-com millionaire, but undercover, investigating the murder of a young man who may have known too much about the local drug trade. Does the woman he names Annie Oakland (for her proficiency with firearms) know more about the illegal goings on in Hermosa Harbor than she claims? Or is the mystery surrounding her something much more deadly? And can he open his heart to a woman whose courage and competence remind him so much of his risk-taking late wife and covert operations partner?

For the 43 Light Street story previous to this one, see York’s Intimate Strangers, Harlequin Intrigue #717 (ISBN: 0-373-22717-5). ( )

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