May 22, 2006
Roberts's latest novel of romantic suspense is a cunningly calibrated portrait of a young chef's recovery from violent trauma. While driving in the Grand Tetons, displaced Bostonian Reece Gilmore stops in the small town of Angel's Fist, near Jackson Hole, Wyo., and considers the "Cook Wanted" sign in Joanie's, a local diner. Still rattled by a shooting spree at her Boston restaurant that left her wounded and the only survivor among 12 co-workers, Reece is easily spooked, as noted by her plainspoken new boss, Joanie, and the locals who frequent the restaurant. Among them is a wary, unattached mystery novelist, Brody. Indeed, when Reece claims to have witnessed a murder while hiking along Snake River, few except Brody are inclined to believe the skittish new resident: Sheriff Rick Mardson hasn't found any clear evidence of a woman struck down near the river; Doc Wallace is suspicious of Reece's fragile mental state; and Joanie isn't about to cut Reece any slack while running a busy kitchen. Roberts cleverly casts suspicions on the locals while developing the romance between the two feisty protagonists. A slow-burn start combusts in a satisfying denouement; Roberts's legions of fans will be enthralled.
July 1, 2006
After suffering a horrific shock, Reece Gilmore is slowly starting to put her life back together. Leaving her home in Boston, Reece travels around the country, but when she arrives in Angel's Fist, Wyoming, her car refuses to go any further. Planning on staying only until she earns enough money to fix her car, Reece takes a job as a cook in the Angel Food Cafe. Then, as she gets to know her new boss, her co-workers, and the other residents of the little town, including Brody, an annoyingly stubborn yet mysteriously sexy writer, she starts to believe that for the first time in a very long time, she may have found a place she might actually want to call home. Reece's hard-won happiness and sense of security is threatened, however, when she becomes not only the sole witness to a murder but also the next target of the killer, who is determined to drive her crazy. Once again, the best-selling, prolific, and endlessly imaginative Roberts deftly imbues a deliciously subtle sense of menace into a chilling and thrilling plot, thus creating yet another of her many irresistible and terrifically satisfying novels of romantic suspense.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)