After Midnight

Back when she was a scrappy eight-year old, Jessica Yount and her mother were escorted out of their hometown by the local sheriff-and she never found out why. Now she is back in Valpariso, Florida, drawn into a police investigation surrounding the death of a local man-and into an irresistibly passionate, tension-filled affair with Sheriff Steve Paxton. From Booklist Starred Review In yet another excellent tale following Lovelace's The Captain's Woman [BKL F 1 03], Col. Jessica Blackwell finds she can go home again, but the cost may be her life. Not that Jessica wants to return to the small town where she and her less than virtuous mother were the local pariahs, but being a good soldier, the colonel obeys orders. Meanwhile, a horrendous secret, immense guilt, and a need for revenge drives someone to commit murder. Sheriff Steve Paxton doesn't know why he thinks Colonel Blackwell's innocent. After all, she has the motive and the means for each murder, and the killings didn't begin until word of her return got out. There's just something about Jessica that attracts him, and when someone starts trying to kill her, he makes protecting her his full-time duty. Lovelace's many fans have come to expect her signature strong, brave, resourceful heroines, and she doesn't disappoint. Readers who enjoy military thrillers by such authors as Vicki Hinze and Suzanne Brockmann will be riveted by this nail-biting story by a retired Air Force colonel who writes with an insider's knowledge and assurance. Shelley Mosley Copyright В© American Library Association. All rights reserved