Nancy Bartholomew: Sophie’s Last Stand

Sophie's Last Stand

Nancy Bartholomew

Silhouette Bombshell, May 2005, $4.99, 304 pp.

ISBN: 0373513550

When her spouse of ten years is arrested and convicted of selling illegally obtained movies of naked neighbours, Sophie Mazaretti divorces Nick and moves from Philadelphia to New Bern, North Carolina to start over. However, peace eludes the kindergarten teacher as people visit her claiming that Nick owed them money or are seeking revenge for having been filmed without permission by the peeping camera tom.

Working in the backyard of her new home, Sophie finds a corpse of a woman with the tattoo hate on her arm. She calls the cops who act nasty to her until her brother Joey arrives to run interference. Soon afterward, Detective Gray "Mr. Wonderful" Evans takes over the investigation. Her husband finds her, followed by the mob and the Feds, with Gray trying to keep her safe while they fall in love. First he must insure she is safe because even if the brave South Philly transplant is tough, Nick's associates are thugs demanding his wife pay his debts.

SOPHIE'S LAST STAND is an entertaining police procedural romance starring a delightful street smart heroine and the cop who not only wants to insure her safety, wants her. The story line is driven by Sophie's struggles to start over after the debacle her ex-spouse caused her, but no one from his past will leave her alone. Fans of romantic suspense will appreciate this fine second chance at love and life, but not necessarily in that order.

Harriet Klausner