Heart on a Leash

Family tensions threaten to keep young lovers apart in Martin’s fun but over-the-top debut and Hearts of Alaska series launch. In the small town of Helen, Alaska, the Porter family rescues huskies while the Lipin family are “cat people”—and that’s just a small piece of the generations-old rivalry between the two families. When Taylor Lipin returns from Los Angeles to help her sister manage their family’s inn, she doesn’t recognize the town’s new doctor, Josh Krane, as a Porter through his mother. Josh doesn’t know much about the rivalry himself, because his dad was in the Air Force and they were never in town for long. Both are excited about the chemistry that ignites upon meeting, but as the two families and their loyalists ramp up obstacles to their romance, they’ll have to fight to stick together. The lengths both families go to prevent this relationship feels more suited to the Wild West than the present, and though it’s hinted that Josh’s uncle’s animosity toward his nephew stems from anti-Semitism, as Josh is half Jewish, this more serious plot goes underexplored. It’s a rocky start, but the scene-stealing huskies help smooth the way. [em]Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore and Co. (Apr.) [/em]