Kit Riley has spent four years building a successful greenery, while dealing with the sudden disappearance of her husband, but when she finds her husband's dead body under her soil, she has to prove she didn't kill him, all while trying not to fall in love with the police chief Kit Riley has spent four years building a successful greenery, while dealing with the sudden disappearance of her husband, but when she finds her husband's dead body under her soil, she has to prove she didn't kill him, all while trying not to fall in love with the police chief Kit Riley is an almost widow and almost divorcee, but not quite single because her husband disappeared with no notice four years ago. She is remembering the recent award that she has won for her business, while working in the soil at her greenery. Suddenly, she finds what appears to be an animal bone, but her assistant tells her it looks human. When she calls the police department, they send someone out and more bones are found.
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Suddenly, the disappearance of her husband is front-page news again and she is the prime suspect. At the same time, she is fighting an attraction that she has for the very good looking and eligible police chief, Grant Holler. He had admired her for years, but it would be unprofessional to act on it as long as the suspicion of her husband's death was over her head as it had been for four years. Even knowing that, it is hard for him to maintain his professionalism around her.
Unfortunately, tests establish that the bones are her husband's and of course, she is the first person to look at. Even from the beginning, he doesn't think she did it, especially when you understand that the entire plot of ground that she uses to grow her inventory has been replaced many times, when she sells out of plants at the end of the season. In addition, all of the soil that was in the greenhouse had been dug through when her husband disappeared.
Therefore, it would almost have to been planted there, but her husband was a nice guy that everyone liked...so, who could have done it? And how can they keep their hands off each other, pretend to be casual acquaintances when it is so obvious there is more there? Fortunately, Grant knows in his heart that she is innocent and he repeatedly bends or breaks normal police routines in order to help her. When threats start coming against her, but again she cannot prove it at first, he still does not doubt her and instead spends as much time with her as possible, in the guise or protection.
Eventually, they cannot help themselves and become intimate. Although at first there are no other possible murderers, it eventually becomes clear that her husband, Hugh, had his own secrets and owed money to the wrong people. At first the reader thinks that it was just a random bad guy, but the shocking secret is that it was someone he knew and trusted...one of the law enforcement officers under Grant's command.
Best part of story, including ending:
I liked the suspense, but the romance fell flat. I like that Grant tried to remain professional, but if every cop was that "professional" no woman would ever have been convicted. The proof of her innocence was simply not there at the beginning and I felt as if he was soon abusing his position of power. The novel could have been a romance, but it fell flat, so it is more of a suspense novel.
Best scene in story:
I really liked the first scene where Grant and Kit are together, when there is a bit of hostility cleverly masking a mutual attraction. It is also done well because that is when the reader first learns that Grant is not just a small-town cop. He is also former military who saw a lot of skeletons in Bosnia and can recognize the difference between human and animal bones. It's just nice when you realize that he is more than he seems and his instincts may be better than you would otherwise expect.
Opinion about the main character:
loved that Kit did not consider herself single as long as there was a hope of her husband being alive, even though there was always a budding attraction between her and Grant. She was a smart, driven woman who never let a tragedy, or presumed tragedy, keep her from working hard to make a future for herself.
