The Unexpected Hero

Rachel Lee has started a wonderful series added to the much beloved Conard County Western Romance novels with her The Next Generation novels, including Protector Of One (Silhouette Romantic Suspense). A number of our old favorite characters are interspersed throughout The Unexpected Hero where eating breakfast at Maude's is where the whole town congregates. Micah Parrish, Nate and Marge Tate, Sara Ironheart, and Gage Dalton (with references to Emmaline Dalton Miss Emmaline and the Archangel (Conard County) (Silhouette Intimate Moments, No. 482) although she does not directly appear in the plot) all circle within the story line. This is a story of love and a suspense romance between two Iraq war veterans who served as military medical personnel. Rachel Lee's opening letter before the start of her novel explains how she wanted to pay a special homage to those unsung heroes. Kristin "Krissie" Tate is one of the 6 daughters from Nate and Marge Tate. She has just returned home after serving as a military nurse and wanted to return to Conard County and it is literally her first shift at the local community hospital where she is hoping and expecting it to be comparatively dull. She immediately meets and is harangued by our hero, Dr. David Marcus. He'd been both a medic and an Army doctor. On her very first shift, someone dies. At first it seemed normal. And then on her second shift another patient dies and it seems highly odd. And the suspense starts. Why? There are mysterious circumstances, which I won't reveal and ruin it for you. Part of Rachel Lee's great gift as an author is her ability to draw complex characters and display their emotional and psychological development over the course of the plot. Her delving into the complexities of the what medical personnel veterans must have experienced during war in after they return home is excellent and emotionally involving. I had to read the whole book all in one day I was so spellbound. Highly recommend, especially to fans of Rachel Lee and Conard County.