cover image Unforgiven

Unforgiven

Jay Crownover. Forever, $7.99 mass market (432p) ISBN 978-1-5387-4635-6

Crownover (Justified) returns to small-town Loveless, Tex., in this suspenseful contemporary romance featuring angst-ridden lovers and an unsolved murder. Straight-laced Texas ranger Hill Gamble has loved reckless Kody Lawton for as long as he’s known her, even after she got together with his younger brother, Aaron. Kody had a crush on Hill too, but she didn’t believe she was good enough for him and bonded with irresponsible Aaron instead. After Aaron dies by suicide at age 22, Kody blames Hill, who’d distanced himself from the couple out of guilt over his lingering feelings. Years later, Kody’s father, the former town sheriff, is murdered and Hill is assigned to investigate, throwing the pair back together. Kody uses angry outbursts and flippant jibes to cover her own guilt about her attraction to Hill, and her juvenile behavior will soon grate on readers’ nerves. Forthright Hill proves an excellent foil, however, and, when danger comes for the Lawton clan, readers will be taken by Hill’s vow to protect the woman he loves. Crownover leaves the central mystery dangling in a cliffhanger ending but reaches an emotional resolution that will satisfy romance fans. Readers will be eager for the next installment. Agent: Stacy Donaghy, Donaghy Literary Group. (Mar.)