Elizabeth Lowell is one of those authors I can rely on. She gives me a pretty good story, a little sex, some romance, and a fairly strong female lead. I hate romance novels with simpering stupid girls.
In Dangerous Refuge, we meet Shaye Townsend, a woman who has moved to the wilds of Nevada to escape her socialite family. Shaye works for a local conservancy, and is the perfect liason between her glittery, fund-raising boss and the crusty old ranchers they’re trying to help.
The story opens with Shaye finding one of the ranchers dead. Lorne Davis was in his 80s, and so his death wasn’t really a surprise, but something doesn’t seem right to Shaye. Something isn’t sitting well with Lorne’s only nephew, Tanner, either. Tanner’s a Los Angeles homicide detective, and he turns up in Nevada to invesigate the death.
Throw in some nefarious dealings within the converancy, some small town government corruption, and some smoldering moments between Shaye and Tanner, and you’ve got yourself a nice little Saturday afternoon romance. Lowell may be formulaic at times, but she always delivers.
Cannonball Read V 