title: The Defendant
author: Taylor, Chris
description: Home is where the heart is… Detective Sergeant Chase Barrington has never forgotten his high school sweetheart. He and Josie Munro planned to marry as soon as she graduated, but fate stepped in and Chase made the painful decision to end it. Unable to find the courage to tell her the truth, he left town without a word of explanation. A decade after graduating high school, Doctor Josie Munro, Child Psychologist, has recently returned to her hometown. When she’s appointed by the court to provide a report on a child’s capacity to stand trial for murder, it’s inevitable that she runs into the lead detective on the case. Unaware of the real reason why Chase ended their relationship, her anger and grief from all those years ago immediately rise to the surface. Being a consummate professional, she has no choice but to complete the task she’s been given, but she’s determined to keep Chase at a distance and to get the job over with as quickly as possible. As Josie gets to know the child through therapy sessions, she’s torn between doing what the law requires of her against what her heart knows is right. She’s also conflicted over her feelings for Chase. She wants to hate him, but she can’t. Will she follow her head or her heart?