Caught off Guard
Kira Sinclair
Harlequin Blaze, Jan 1 2011, $4.99
ISBN: 9780373795925

Heiress Annemarie Prescott could sense the man looking at her across a crowded room. She looks back at bodyguard Blake Mitchell who has no paparazzi camera to continue to photo her misdeeds or even dollar signs; instead he has lust in his eyes as each attends the wedding of his younger sister who is her best friend Karyn nee Mitchell (see Whispers in the Dark; not read by me) at the Prescott Hotel in Darby, Mississippi while her CEO mom awaits the runaway prodigal child's return to the fold.

Her mom hired him to persuade her to come home. Meanwhile as Blake and Annemarie emit enough heat to melt the polar icecaps, someone tries to kill her; only his intervention keeps her from harm. Soon they fall in love, but his occupation requires a Bogart persona and her distrust of so called loving relationships which only denotes hurt threaten to keep them apart even as that stalker gets increasingly brazen.

This is an entertaining regional heater as the lead couple struggles to come together with each bringing tons of baggage to their shaky relationship. The story line is character driven though the stalker adds suspense to the exciting mix as fans will be Caught off Guard with the twisting strong climax to an enjoyable contemporary romance.

Harriet Klausner