This modern western romance gets off to a good start as journalists mull over the astounding story of a woman who returned from presumed death. As they camp outside the Montana house of her presidential hopeful husband - who remarried during the intervening two decades - they wonder if Sarah Hamilton really did drive into the river, escape her car and lose her memory. If she really is Sarah Hamilton. Then freelancer Max Malone gets a LUCKY SHOT of the lady. With Senator Hamilton.

This becomes quite a complex story. Not only does the senator have a jealous second wife, but his six daughters from that first marriage are young women who resent the media intrusion; while their mother, declared legally dead, claims she can't remember where she's been. A rancher who found Sarah and has been taking care of her now says he's in love with her, while the public speculate as to why she reappeared just as her husband's political campaign gets into gear. Good luck with uncovering the truth.

I found one escalation after another. Max can't resist showing off the photo to the senator's daughter Kat and when his gear is stolen, very oddly for a journalist he hadn't uploaded his data to web storage. Only then do we learn another reporter on the story has already disappeared, his car found in a ravine; while a private detective earlier hired by the senator's current wife is warned off with extreme threats. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the series of escalations, but we have been dropped into the middle of the tale and are making sense of everything as we go. Another example is that someone says Sarah returned by parachute. And she can't remember?

Tension there is aplenty and the danger levels rise as Max and Kat team up so the girl can learn the truth about her mother. The pair have an interest in photography in common and their respect gradually grows to a love that frees them from self-imposed constraints. LUCKY SHOT is an adult romance but the emphasis is on the thriller side of matters. B.J. Daniels has previously written romantic suspense stories about the Cardwell Ranch and knows her Montana location well. This standalone novel will make her new friends who don't normally read romances.

Book Summary

He's determined to uncover the truth behind a decades-old disappearance—even if it kills him

When hotshot reporter Max Malone gets a rare shot of Buckmaster Hamilton with a blonde woman near Beartooth, Montana, he chases down one of the senator's daughters to verify that the woman is his supposedly long-dead first wife. But Kat Hamilton won't give him the time of day, let alone any information about her mother.

With his tousled blond hair, sexy stubble and an old straw cowboy hat topping off his long, lean frame, Kat can just tell Max isn't used to female sources denying him anything. But when her own life is put in jeopardy, it's Max who comes to her rescue. Seems someone is prepared to kill to keep the past in the past.

Kat can't deny she needs Max to find out what happened to her mother, but will getting closer and closer to each other lead them to the truth…or to danger?

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