cover image Lay Down the Law

Lay Down the Law

Carsen Taite. . Bold Strokes, $16.95 trade paper (264p) ISBN 978-1-62639-336-3

Recognized for the pithy realism of her characters and settings drawn from a Texas legal milieu, Taite (Courtship) pays homage to the prime-time soap opera Dallas in pairing a cartel-busting U.S. attorney, Peyton Davis, with a charity-minded oil heiress, Lily Gantry. It%E2%80%99s not as improbable as it first appears: Peyton%E2%80%99s family has fallen on hard times, but they own a ranch with a storied past, giving her entr%C3%A9e to Dallas society. And Lily%E2%80%99s father may be up to some shady shenanigans with drug lords south of the border. Peyton%E2%80%99s family battles over who will run the ranch, and Lily, an adoptee, seeks the truth of her birth with the help of a beautiful private investigator. While Dallas had entire TV seasons to unravel its dishy entanglements, Taite crams a great many events into a rather scant page count. More of a thriller than a romance, Peyton and Lily%E2%80%99s connection relies on little more than a fondly anticipated picnic, and even gut-wrenching details, like terminal cancer or a predecessor%E2%80%99s assassination, come across as dramatic boxes to be ticked rather than heartfelt experiences. (Apr.)