title: Forsaken
author: O'Dwyer, P.J.
description: A trifecta of trouble for one man, and a horse race meant to be won . . . by one woman. On her own since the age of eighteen, after the death of her dear ma, Irish barmaid and racetrack groom Dani Flynn works three jobs to stay afloat. Only it's the third one-the one along the docks after midnight-that just might find her at the bottom of the Irish Sea. Running for her life with a thumb drive that could bring down all of Parliament, Dani does the sensible thing. She hops a freighter, destination unknown, and spends a week on the high seas. Curse or Divine intervention, Dani can't decide which when she finds herself docked in the U.S. penniless, illegal, and within two hundred miles of a farm called Grace. Swallowing her pride and twenty-six years of resentment, she makes her way to the one man she swore she'd never have anything to do with-her da. Handcuffed, frisked, and charged with assaulting a police officer isn't casting her in a warm glow of endearment nor keeping her illegal status under wraps. But when a little scrap of paper called a birth certificate proves her claim, she's met with open arms and even finds a home away from home at a Thoroughbred training center. Except it's not her family's blessing she needs. Nor a maddening attraction to the one hell-bent on sending her home-the cop she sunk her teeth into while trying to escape. The sparkling shores of freedom may not be enough to keep her past from catching up with her. Especially since blending in and keeping a low profile proves difficult when Mr. Law and Order, in the form of a gorgeous American sheriff, is doing his best to unearth her past. Kevin Bendix never came out on top as a kid against the Fallon sisters. As the Sheriff of Washington County, it's not as simple as taking his licks and calling it a day, especially now that there are three. Win or lose, he'll uphold the law and defer to his training. He knows a liar when he sees one. Only Dani Flynn isn't your average lawbreaker. She's female and all of about five-foot-two with a face of an angel and a body of a sinner. He'll get to the truth. It's his job. But in the end, he could lose more than his quiet way of life. It's not only his heart she'll steal. Loving this woman could cost them both their lives.