cover image Not Without You

Not Without You

Jean Barrett, Five Star, $25.95 (288p) ISBN 978-1-59414-949-8

Kate Groen is a talented news correspondent who is devoted to her career, but when she's captured in Iraq during the first Gulf War, her future and heart become intertwined with those of her fellow prisoner Lt. Efrem Chaudoir. Once Kate and Efrem are free, they swear their love for each other and vow to be together as soon as Efrem is able to divorce his wife, but unexpected circumstances keep him in the loveless marriage. As years go by, Kate and Efrem's paths cross over and over, but the timing is never right. Their globe-spanning romance plods along against the backdrop of recent conflicts from Kosovo in 1999 to Afghanistan in 2007. The protagonists sometimes behave like petulant teenagers, but some readers might still be intrigued enough by the world events and settings to put up with the convoluted romance. (Mar.)