Friction

Texas Ranger Crawford Hunt fell into a downward spiral four years ago following the death of his wife, which led to him losing custody of his baby daughter. Now he’s cleaned up his act and is fighting to regain custody. His fate lies in the hands of Judge Holly Spencer. Before she is able to give her verdict, a masked gunman barges into the court room and Crawford saves Holly from being shot.

Thus Crawford’s life takes a slightly different route as he tries to find out who is behind the shooting, whilst still trying to prove to the world in general and to his wife’s parents, who currently have custody of his daughter, in particular, that he has changed his ways and is a fit parent.

I have to say first up that this novel is more romance than crime. The ‘gunman in the courtroom’ scenario is a tad implausible. The fact that Crawford turns up at the judge’s house late at night wanting to know what her verdict was going to be is equally implausible. And when this meeting between two strangers who intensely dislike each other turns very quickly into steamy sex on the couch, I was being asked to suspend my belief one scene too far.

Crawford Hunt is a typical romantic hero – flawed, rugged and reckless, with a soft centre revealed by the love he has for his five year old daughter. Judge Spencer thinks of herself as an independent woman, but shows considerable lack of judgement by falling for the defendant whose case she is presiding over. You’d think a strong-minded woman would know better.

Sandra Brown specialises in romantic suspense, and the tropes her readers are fond of are all present, so if you’re a fan, you’re going to like this book. And if you’re a fan of romance novels generally, this is probably right up your alley.