Cold Case Affair (Wild Country, 2)

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques Muirinn O'Donnell is a highly successful, pregnant journalist who just returned from her latest research trip to find her grandfather, Gus, has died, under suspicious circumstances. She never wanted to return to her hometown in Safe Harbor, Alaska but now she's back. When she finds evidence that there may have been a conspiracy around Gus's death, connecting it to a blast in the mines that killed her father twenty years ago, someone will stop at nothing to prevent the information from getting out. Jett Rutledge is a brush pilot who long ago loved Muirinn with all his being. But Safe Harbor was his home and he refused to follow Muirinn as she chased her dreams. When she returns, he knows his simple life is about to be turned upside down, especially when she starts stirring up trouble with her investigation. Jett can protect her, but both of them have secrets better left unrevealed. However, passion intervenes and these two find themselves caught up in a Cold Case Affair. Loreth Anne White has written an engrossing romantic suspense novel full of passion and danger, and the charm of Alaskan town life in Cold Case Affair. Mystery and intrigue abound as Muirinn investigates what happened to Gus and what really happened in that mine so many years ago. Intensity ratchets higher the closer Muirinn gets to finding the answers she so desperately seeks. While I suspected who was behind the murderous bomb in the mine shaft from early on in the story, I really hoped it wouldn't be who I thought it was since I was so sympathetic to the killer and their plight. That shows true talent when a writer can make us love the bad guys as much as we love the good guys, understanding what drives them to the acts they choose. I will admit, I'm not usually a fan of the "Big Misunderstanding" and/or "Secret Baby" plot devices, but Loreth makes both work in a believable way in Cold Case Affair. As much as I wanted to smack Jett and Muirinn a time or two for just not coming out with it and revealing their secrets, I felt for them and completely understood their reasons for keeping such important details to themselves. I especially liked the unique spin she uses to make the two secrets mesh so seamlessly, putting her own spin on the themes. Muirinn and Jett are such a perfectly imperfect couple, both with stubbornness in spades. The spark between them has had over ten years to smolder, never dying, faring again to brilliant vibrant life as soon as these two reluctant love birds come in contact again. They have much to learn about what it means to really give yourselves, body and soul, to another for safekeeping, but we know that as soon as they can overcome their past, they will be strong enough to face down the worst of their demons... together. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Safe Harbor in Cold Case Affair and I look forward to future adventures in the Wild Country series. Loreth Anne White has cemented her spot on my "must watch

Do secrets always come out even when you burry them? Are you better off keeping a secret? Almost everytime you try to bury a secret it comes out. In this book we have a bunch of buried secrets about several different things. They can all ruin the lives of the people in this small town. You have murder, accidental deaths, poisoning, betrayel, adoption, & search/rescue parties. You name it, it is likely to happen in this book. Many times people try to cover up a scandal but they always get burned and everything is much worse. I was captivated at the secrets that Murriun and Jett keep from each other. If either of them had enough fatih in each other they wouldn't be in the shape they are in today and would not have so many wasted years. They may still have had a hard time over coming the scandal that was released in the town on this cold day though.

If you like romance and suspense you'll love this book. It contains secrets, lies, murder, conspiracy, questionable death, love, and second chances. Muirinn O'Donnell returned to her hometown of Safe Harbor, Alaska after eleven years. She was there to take over her grandfather's newspaper business and to find out how her grandfather really died. She did not believe the official verdict that he had died of a heart attack and had fallen down a mine shaft. Her grandfather ~Gus~ had been her only living relative and she was determined to find answers. She set out to prove that someone had killed him in order to protect themselves. She had a past in Safe Harbor with Jett Rutledge that she would have to explain. She was also seven months pregnant making her safety even more important. When Muirinn had run away from Safe Harbor she had been pregnant with Jett's child and had given it up for adoption and this was a secret that she would have to reveal if she expected him to help her. What she didn't know was that Jett already knew and was very angry with her. Since her grandfather had been found down a mine shaft where twenty years earlier an explosion that had killed all of the men in the tunnel had occurred she was sure that whoever killed Gus was trying to stop him from revealing a secret he had uncovered that would prove the explosion was no accident. Jett was determined to have nothing to do with Muirinn but when someone started trying to kill her he had to protect her and find out the truth behind the attempts. The town was basically run by the Moran family and they were the ones trying to stop Muirinn from finding answers...but were they responsible for trying to kill her and had they killed Gus? And how were they connected to the explosion in the mine twenty years ago?...Or were they connected to the explosion and Gus's death and the attempted murder of Muirinn or just trying to hide the truth to protect someone else? Guess if you really want to know you'll have to read the book for yourself?