Janet Chapman, The Stranger in Her Bed

The Stranger in Her Bed

Janet Chapman

Pocket, Feb 2007, $6.99

ISBN: 1416505288

In Maine when his logging family bought the Loon Cove Lumber sawmill, Ethan Knight did not want to take over the operation, but he is given no choice by his father or his two brothers. To get a better handle on the daily operation before they take charge, Ethan obtains work there. On his first day on the job he causes an accident that hurts foreman Abby Segee, damages expensive equipment, and leads to his being fired.

Not long afterward, Ethan returns to take charge of running the sawmill while also moving into a cabin he rents from Abby. He has problems with a female in charge in a male dominated realm, but adapts as his father warns him and he sees how loyal the crew is to her. Ethan also fails to recognize Abby as he assumes she is part of the powerful Canadian lumber family Segee, but she does recognize him as she loved him when she lived as a youngster with her maternal grandfather until her Canadian birth father took her from him. As they fall in love, someone wants her dead as accidents, including icing a road she takes between her home and her work, occur; the same stretch that killed her grandfather.

The second Knight in shining armor contemporary romance (see THE SEDUCTION OF HIS WIFE) is an exciting tale starring two likable protagonists and a strong support cast, mostly her crew and his family. The storyline is at its best when the lead duo duels over the workplace and their relationship. The suspense elements seem forced, but no one will care as love blossoms in the Maine sawmill between the owner and the role model gender bending foreman.

Harriet Klausner