Brenda Minton, The Strongest Cord

The Strongest Cord

Brenda Minton

Five Star, Sep 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 1594144923

Her father worked the rodeo circuit as a bull rider so was never home. As such Lilly Tanner grew up dreaming of leaving the dust of cowboy s behind for the big city. Ian Hunt helped her escape by buying her a bus ticket out of town. Now she is a nurse in Kansas City.

However, her life changes when her family crashes back into hers. Her sister Missy has been jailed for possession leaving her four years old daughter Shelby with her Aunt Lilly. Since Missy struck a deal to testify against her spouse, fearing for her niece's safety from her brother-in-law drug dealer Carl Long, Lily returns to Oklahoma seeking a haven. There she meets Dr. Ian Hunt, who she thought would have left his grandfather's farm to return home to his family in Boston. He vows to keep the two females safe even as he swears he will persuade his Lilly they belong together as this time he will not let her go.

Though the drug dealing Carl is so reprehensible with no redeeming qualities (he plans to use his offspring as a hostage to keep his wife from talking) that he seems more a boogeyman caricature, fans will enjoy this solid thriller. The story line for much of the tale is a romance in which Ian struggles to convince Lily they belong together with Shelby because of the love that flows between them. Carl brings the action late in the plot as he implements his plan to use his daughter and her aunt as pawns. Brenda Minton provides readers with an exciting romantic suspense.

Harriet Klausner