The Secret
Wounded in a drive-by shooting, L.A. advertising executive Kate Rollins has a near-death experience. In it, the grandmother she has never met, Nell Hart, struggles to communicate an urgent message. Haunted by the visitation, a failed marriage and a troubled son, Kate decides to escape to tiny Lost Peak, Mont. There she takes over the caf‚ she has recently inherited from Nell and attempts to unearth the truth that her late grandmother so desperately wished to convey. Kate's investigation suggests that Nell may have been murdered, and her suspicions are confirmed when she discovers that her grandmother was being bullied by Consolidated Metals, the same shrewd gold-mining company that has been threatening Kate in order to halt her environmental efforts. Kate's biggest dilemma, however, is her neighbor Chance McLain, a sexy rancher who thrills her body and soul but is promised to another. The novel's premise--of a successful businesswoman lured to the wild west by a family legacy--appears in a spate of recent romances, but the environmental theme strikes a nicely contemporary note amid a hymn to traditional rural life. Despite its familiar plot, Martin's (Perfect Sin, etc.) story is solidly written, deftly balancing intense emotion with satisfying intrigue. (Mar.)Forecast: The face of the contemporary romance has shifted in the past decade, favoring wholesome country values over high-rise city life. Although Martin has only recently begun writing contemporaries again, she has made a name for herself with her popular historical suspense novels. With this return to the heartland, she is certain to enjoy bestselling sales once more.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.