Review: Great book!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2013
An excellent story, well written with great characters, wonderful setting, tight plot and a happy ending. I'm not sure what more you could ask for in a book! I have not previously read anything by this author, but I am certainly going to look for her name in the future.Michael is an artist who lives in a small town in the foothills of the Rockies in Colorado. He is half French and half Arapahoe Indian and he specializes in landscape and wildlife paintings. There have been some murders in town and one dangerous attack and the local people are sure that Michael is the culprit, even though he was tried and exonerated in court. Nikki is a newcomer to town from L.A.. She's the CEO of a construction company but she moonlights as a wildlife photojournalist, specializing in wolves. She also has only four to six months to live, having failed chemotherapy, radiation and even experimental drug  trials for her lung cancer. She picked this town for it's location and the presence of wolves in the area, left her company in the hands of the board of directors, cashed out her accounts and left no forwarding information. She plans to fix up a cabin and live out the rest of her life.Despite the townspeople's warnings Nikki finds herself drawn to Michael. He is her neighbor and is unfailingly helpful, gentle and kind. When town bullies try to threaten her and to hunt on her land, Michael is there to protect her.  When these men actually run her down,  breaking her ankle and giving her a concussion, Michael moves in and cares for her, asking nothing in return. When there is another murder, Nikki is able to provide Michael with an alibi. Even though the sheriff still hauls him in for questioning, Nikki bails him out. As they become closer, Michael confides in Nikki about the earlier murders and she is determined to see him cleared before she dies. Nikki confides in Michael about her cancer and her wish to die outside the hospital.Soon, every time Michael leaves her, Nikki is attacked by a knife-wielding assailant in camouflage. Nothing can shake Nikki's faith in Michael, though. She knows it isn't him and he keeps appearing in the knick of time to save her. He confesses to her that he has a sixth sense and knows when there is something terrible happening. He has never been believed about this sense and it makes people uncomfortable, but Nikki has seen enough to believe. The closer they get, the more they fall in love. Nikki resists, she doesn't want him to be hurt when she dies. Michael convinces her that any time they have is time to celebrate their love. His senses are telling him that she's not dying. He writes down her medication names and asks his surrogate father, the town doctor, to look into them. What they find out is startling. He also confides in his best friend and college roommate who is a psychiatrist working with the terminally ill. Nikki feels totally betrayed and she runs off, getting into the path of the real killer.*************SPOILER ALERT******************SPOILER ALERT********************Michael and a well placed undercover FBI agent come to her rescue, but all they have to do is find her, because she escapes on her own. In tending to her wounds, they run more blood work and find she has no cancer. The experimental drug trials had been successful, but her unscrupulous doctor had wanted to study the drug longer, not counting on her pulling up stakes and moving away. All further tests clear her, except for the damage done to her lungs by the experimental drugs. Nikki and Michael get married and get to follow their dreams.*******END SPOILER ALERT********************END SPOILER ALERT*****************Heat factor moderate.