Polly Hansen seems to have been running for most of her life. A victim of domestic abuse, she goes to prison for killing her first husband. Then, on a fluke, her sentence is commuted to time served and she goes free. Once she is out, she makes a mistake and gets pregnant. Polly decides to marry Gregg and try for a normal life. Again, things just do not work out the way Polly hopes. That is what makes her pack up and leave both Gregg and Jani, her little girl.

Ending up in a small town in Delaware, she manages to carve a niche for herself as a bartender/server in the town's bar and restaurant. Adam Bosk says he is also just passing through but they both end up staying when Adam is hired as the cook at the High-Ho. A sexy and feisty redhead who has trouble written all over her, Polly just might want to spend some time with the handsome Adam. The pull of these two is stronger than any magnet. Before they realize it, they have fallen in love with each other.

This is somewhat of a problem, though. Adam and Polly both have some pretty dark secrets that they are keeping. Will these secrets, once revealed, lead down a path to fulfillment or tragedy?

Rather than hit the ground running right out of the gate, SUNBURN lures you in slowly at first, while picking up speed as you go along. Polly is not exactly a very likeable person at first and is certainly not a candidate for Mother of the Year. As more of her back story is revealed, however, it is clear that Polly has had a difficult life and is finally on the road to that normal life that she craves. She has a plan. The biggest thing stopping her is that she has learned some hard lessons in life that have brought her some pretty serious trust issues.

Adam has some issues himself that keep him from committing to just one woman. Something about Polly has taken hold of his heart, however. He was not looking for love and did not really want it. Polly seems to throw all of his rules out of the window. There is a flame that burns white hot between them. At first, he wants her. Now, he has to admit that love could have come to him.

Hot, lazy days and even hotter nights are what you will find in this tiny spot on the map. If you happen to love a romance that will cause you more than a little bit of heat as well, SUNBURN is exactly what you need. Laura Lippman has delivered a novel that will turn up the heat for you even on the coldest of days. It seems that love has come to two people who were certainly not looking for it, and Ms. Lippman's readers get to be a part of this journey.

Filled with characters that jump right off the page for you, this small town is one that many will recognize. There are also plenty of surprises around every corner. Just when I thought I knew what was going on with a character, I would be thrown a curve ball. That caused me to try to figure out each player and what part they were actually playing in the unfolding events.

SUNBURN is a novel filled with mystery and white hot romance. Laura Lippman has created her own small town and she invites you into it. Just understand that once you have entered it, you will never be the same.

Book Summary

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with a superb novel of psychological suspense about a pair of lovers with the best intentions and the worst luck: two people locked in a passionate yet uncompromising game of cat and mouse. But instead of rules, this game has dark secrets, forbidden desires, inevitable betrayals—and cold-blooded murder. . .

One is playing a long game. But which one?

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through.

Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets that begin to accumulate as autumn approaches, feeding the growing doubts they conceal.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something—or someone—has to give.

Which one will it be?

Inspired by James M. Cain’s masterpieces The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce, Sunburn is a tantalizing modern noir from the incomparable Laura Lippman.