BEYOND A SHADOW
ALISON KENT
ISBN# 0-7582-1114-7
December 2006
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue, New York NY 10022
Paperback
$14.00
291 Pages
Romantic Suspense
Rating: 4 Cups

Alexa Counsel’s life as a schoolteacher might be boring but it is comfortable, just like the name of her new hometown of Comfort Bay. However, she sometimes yearns for something more since her divorce, even if that makes her feel disloyal to her friends.

Ezra Moore is the new handyman at Maples Inn. He is also a teacher, but on sabbatical, and is very interested in getting to knowing Alexa much better. But he has a dark secret he is desperate to hide and is not above using her to do so.

Alexa cannot help thinking that Ezra is not what he appears to be from the very beginning and feels that he is dangerous, so she asks one of her friends to investigate him. However, from the first she is also attracted to him. Ezra is in town to bring down an organization and wants Alexa as a cover for his activities. At first, all he thinks to do is use their relationship for his own ends. However, soon he is in deeper than he ever meant to be, and before long, both are in much more danger than even he thought possible. The consequences may be much greater than he can endure, but the reward may be even sweeter if he can just move Beyond a Shadow.

Alexa and Ezra were wonderfully complex characters that explored all sides of a relationship. From being a racially mixed couple in a small town, and all the problems that can entail, to all the shades of gray that happen with a man who has been on the bad side of the law to get results. Do the ends really justify the means? The answers are not always easy ones, but I think the author made the reader sympathize with the hero, who just had to make tough choices in his life. This was a beautiful story, suspenseful, edgy, hot, sexy, and yet, sweet, and heart-warming in the end. I loved it, and cannot wait for more from Ms. Kent.

Jenn
Reviewer For Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer For Karen Talk About New Books