On Thin Ice
Cherry Adair
Ballantine, Sep 2004, $19.95, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0345475798

Montana Veterinarian Lily Monroe thought when she married Sean that her husband was a nice guy. That changes from the moment they honeymoon as he turns out to be a shady character committing atrocities. When Sean became ill, Lily nursed him until he died.

Rancher Derek Wright fell in love with Lily before she married, but stepped aside because he thought that she would be better off with Sean. He plans to marry her after they complete the Iditarod. Lily thinks the wealthy Derek is womanizing when he goes on frequent trips. She does not know is that he is not a skirt chaser since he met Lily and he works undercover for the federal Terrorist Force Logistical Assault Command.

The Alaskan climate is not the only thing attacking the two as someone tries to kill Lily. Derek believes that he is the cause of her woes as a deadly terrorist has been reported in Alaska. Unbeknownst to him Lily may be in danger because of what she knows involving a fake breeding of a bull. What Derek does know is that he will risk his life willingly to keep his beloved Lily safe.

ON THIN ICE is an enjoyable romantic suspense that uses the Iditarod as a backdrop, but the vividly descriptive race does not supersede the intrigue and the romance. The lead couple is a delightful pairing as Derek will move Mount McKinley if it means that Lily is his partner forever, but he also needs to overcome her concept of him. The attempts on her life add suspense, but the race serves as the center of a fine second chance to find love that eluded them the first time around.

Harriet Klausner