I am always a huge fan of B.J. Daniels and this time was no different. She is always able to write a novel that pulls me in from page one and doesn't let me go until the very last sentence. Whenever I see one of her books hit the shelves, I'm right there grabbing it up as quickly as I can. They are the kind of books that you can't wait to start but you're sad when they're done.

I think a lot of people can relate to meeting up with a high school sweetheart later on in life. And I also think a lot of people can relate to going in different directions as that high school sweetheart. Carla never meant to stay in her small town but she also never planned to run off with Davy. She knew that he was a rodeo cowboy at heart and even though she didn't expect him to make it his career, she wasn't really surprised either. But she also ended up staying in that small town after doing her best to take care of her mom after she got sick. And Davy was always in a different place riding and only stopping by to visit family here and there, never staying long.

This didn't play like typical romantic suspense and I liked it. The villain was pointed out right from the beginning. It had me understanding the motive behind their decision, though I of course didn't agree with it. But in the beginning, I could understand how their desperation and wanting to get themselves out of trouble led them to make stupid decisions. Jud was doing what he thought he had to in order to stay alive, keep Jesse alive, and get himself out of trouble. There were loan sharks after him and he had to do something. Jud also felt like he had tried every other avenue before resorting to robbery. But, as they do, things went from bad to worse very quickly. And messing with Carla was the biggest mistake Jud could have made. Especially with Davy back in town. Because he wasn't going to leave until he knew that Carla was no longer in danger.

I do have to say, the FBI agents in this one really had me agitated. I didn't like the way they treated Carla right off the bat. I understand their job was to find the ones responsible for the bank robbery, and that everyone is a suspect. But they didn't seem to take into consideration what happened to Carla and instead wanted to treat her like the perpetrator. Sure, the possibility is always going to be there that a bank robbery is an inside job. It's probably similar to generally suspecting the spouse when someone is murdered. But they weren't even giving Carla a chance to heal before they were peppering her with questions and making veiled accusations. I was not a fan of them at all. Davy and his brothers were the only ones handling the investigation the way it should have been handled and I respected them all the more because of it.

This book kept me hooked from start to finish. And it had me feeling all of the emotions along the way. I was rooting for Davy and Carla from chapter one and I never stopped. Davy was as determined as they come and I really felt his struggle when it came to doing his best to help Carla and going back to his dream career. Even though the villain was revealed early on, that didn't take anything away from the mystery that was presented. There was still more than enough suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat and wondering what was going to happen next. The romance and sense of family were both done extremely well, something not unusual with B.J. Daniels at the helm. I can't recommend this one enough!

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Good book, but let me start by correcting some things from the synopsis. Davy is NOT a former rodeo star. When the book opens, he has come home to spend the holidays with his brothers before returning to the rodeo circuit. Nor has he gotten a PI license. It is correct that he never stopped loving his high school sweetheart, Carla.

Ten years earlier, after graduation, Davy told Carla he was going on the rodeo circuit rather than going to college with her. He wanted her to marry him and come along. But Carla didn't want to give up her dreams either and gave Davy an ultimatum: her or the rodeo. Both were broken-hearted but went their separate ways. After college, Carla returned to Lonesome to take care of her mother and took a job at the local bank. After her mother's death, Carla stayed on, choosing her career and stability.

Fast forward to the present day. Carla has never forgotten Davy and her feelings for him. She sometimes wonders what would have happened if she'd gone with him. When she runs into one of his brothers, she asks about Davy, which gets back to him. This motivates him to pay her a visit at the bank, hoping they may try again. Unfortunately for Davy, the meeting doesn't go well, as Carla is still entrenched in place, and he is still a rodeo cowboy. It looks like history repeats itself, as neither one seems interested in compromising. That changes when Carla is injured during a bank robbery, and Davy is determined to protect her.

The story's suspense is a little different than usual, as we know who the bad guys are from the beginning. The villain's motivation is clear, as well as how desperation leads to stupid decisions. The villain's psychotic girlfriend complicates matters. Carla sees something during the bank robbery that puts a target on her back, and Davy is determined to keep her safe. Carla is at a disadvantage because the FBI agents investigating the case believe it was an inside job and fixate on Carla as their prime suspect. Despite the information she provides the agents, they seem uninterested in pursuing any other line of investigation.

While Davy's PI brothers go to work looking into the information Carla knows, Davy and Carla set out to do some investigating of their own. The villain's girlfriend is incredibly determined to stop Carla permanently, and the number and intensity of the attacks on Carla escalate throughout the book. The final confrontation was a nail-biter that kept me glued to the pages until it was over. I admit that I would like to have seen the FBI agents with egg on their faces over their incompetence, but they seem to get off easy.

I liked seeing the rekindling of Carla and Davy's relationship. Davy freely admits to his brothers that he never stopped loving Carla. Unfortunately, Carla fights her feelings from the start. She feels guilty about how she treated him back in the day but is still convinced there is no future for them. Davy won my heart with his tender and determined care for her, while I wanted to shake Carla for being so stubborn. But when it was time for Davy to return to the rodeo, Carla had a decision to make. Does she go with Davy or play it safe? For Davy, is it time to quit the rodeo or stick it out a few more years? Each battles pride and heart before realizing that love is the most important thing they have.

The series mystery involves getting to the truth behind their father's death. They suspect a cover-up by the former sheriff but have no proof. Very little was addressed in this book. The final brother, Willie, joins the sheriff's department at the end here, putting him in a position to investigate further.

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