Johnny Harris is home again after a 10-year stretch in Federal Prison for murder. Now he's out on parole and ready for the job Rachel Grant has offered him. Rachel was his High School English teacher who always believed her former student was innocent of murder. When the killer strikes again and all evidence points to Johnny, Rachel is the only person in town show believes him.
I first read this book 20 years ago and loved it. I enjoyed it just as much this time around. Johnny is my favorite kind of hero, a bad boy hero with a chip (boulder) on is shoulder. Rachel stands up for him against the rest of the town and her family. I loved the chemistry between these two characters. The pages just sizzled. The only drawback with the story was the lack of suspense in the first half. But I can say I was truly surprised by the identity of the killer. My rating: 4.5 Stars.
Too Long and Drawn Out
I have to say the romance between Rachel Grant being a teacher, and getting together romantically with a former student, Johnny, this bad boy turning over a new leaf in a new year after getting out of prison was pretty intriguing. Johnny goes to work for Rachel at her hardware store. She offers him the apartment upstairs above the store so he can get comfortable.
The thing I couldn't stand... between all the romance between the two main characters, and conflict and drama with her family, was that the suspenseful parts were rather drab and annoying. They just seemed to draw out forever, without really getting to a point.
I think Karen Robards could have done better. But she is a fantastic storyteller, as she proves in her other novels. This one just didn't do much for me after a while. I could not finish this one.
Very emotional book with a dark and sexy hero. I found this rec on Amazon as "Favorite book ever list", I wouldn't go that far, but I did read it in one sitting and enjoyed reading it. I like books where the hero or heroine are with other people causing some jealousy and angst and this story has that element. Also the suspense and love connection were very good.
