She Can Run

She Can Run, by Melinda Leigh.

He'd known her casually for a long time. Why hadn't he noticed how pretty she was before? Not beuatiful, just wholesome and fresh-faced. He handed her a twenty. "You look nice this morning."

Dropping hear head shyly, she blushed and handed over his change. "You have a good day."

"I will. Thanks." He exited the diner with a new spring in his step.

Mary Ann was lovely.

He wondered how loudly she could scream.

This is another full-on "romance" book, but I enjoyed it more than In Her Sights, which I recently reviewed, as it focused more on the mystery/thriller story rather than the romance (though there was plenty of romance as well).

Elizabeth (Beth) Baker has run away from her crazy politician husband, Richard, and is on the run with her kids and a new identity. Her uncle sets up a job for her in a rural town, as a caretaker of an estate, but when she arrives two weeks later, the old man whom she was supposed to be employed by has died. His nephew, Jack O'Malley, agrees to hire her, since he still needs a caretaker, and soon finds himself attracted to her. He knows that something is wrong with her and her kids, though, and wants to find out what it is.

There were definitely some sexual scenes in this novel but I enjoyed the mystery and thriller part of it a lot, even though I figured out who the Riverside Killer was just based on process of elimination. The characters in the novel feel very real, and Melinda Leigh does a good job at creating believable situations and scenes.

3.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book to review. It will be in stores on November 22, 2011.