I’m a sucker for books with deeply scarred characters who must struggle to find peace and happiness. Overcoming angst is my thing. Author Nikki Logan provides angst and relief in spades here.

After former ballerina Eleanor Patterson discovers that the man she called father was really her stepfather, she drives from the Big Apple to poky Larkville, Texas, to meet her siblings since her real father has just died.

There she meets Sheriff Jed Jackson, who puts her up in the guest house on his property. Jed is no stranger to high maintenance big city women, especially since he was engaged to one when he was a cop in New York City. While he doesn’t mind helping a lady in distress like Ellie, he’s definitely keeping his distance from her.

Eleanor is one of those women who’s tried her whole life to do what others think is good for her. Consequently, when the pressure got too much, she developed an eating disorder. Now having gotten rid of it and set herself straight, she’s determined not to let anyone tie her in knots again.

Between them is former police dog Deputy who was traumatized when his handler, Jed’s fiancé, was killed and Deputy beaten nearly to death. As Jed and Ellie circle around one another, Deputy is the glue that keeps them bound.

Read the rest of my review at AAR: http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=9122 ( )