Riverbend Road (RaeAnne Thayne) — Review & Giveaway!

Protecting the streets of Haven Point isn't just a job for police officer Wyn Bailey, it's a family tradition. But lately she's found herself wanting more, especially from her boss—and overprotective brother's best friend—sexy chief of police, Cade Emmett. The only problem is getting Cade to view her as more than just a little sister.

Cade's hands-off approach with Wyn isn't from lack of attraction. But his complicated past has forced him to conceal his desire. When Wyn is harmed in the line of duty, Cade realizes the depth of his feelings, but can he let his guard down long enough to embrace the love he secretly craves?

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review

Another heartwarming romance set in Haven Point! The main characters this time around are Cade Emmett, Haven Point’s police chief, and his subordinate, Wynona Bailey. Neither have figured significantly in previous books, but that didn’t keep me from quickly feeling as though I’d known them all along.

Cade may be a lawman now, but he had a rough childhood. The son of an alcoholic prone to domestic abuse, Cade could have ended up like his dad and Emmett generations before him — in and out of trouble. Luckily for him, John Bailey, the town’s former Chief of Police, took young Cade under his wing, and the Bailey home became a haven for Cade through his adolescence. John’s mentorship inspired Cade to enter the military, then become a policeman.

Wyn comes from a law-enforcement family. Her father John was shot in the line of duty two years before the book opens, and she lost her twin Wyatt, also while on duty, four or five years before that. Her brother Marshall is the Sheriff of Haven County, and her other brother, Elliot, is an FBI agent. Wyn herself is an excellent cop, but it wasn’t her first career choice.

There’s plenty of tension between Cade and Wyn, despite the fact that they’ve known each other almost forever — Marshall is Cade’s best friend. But when Wyn disobeys a direct order to rescue two children from a burning barn, Cade suspends her for a week — and his feelings for her, which he has been pushing aside for years, come roaring to the surface. For her part, Wyn has been hiding her own attraction to Cade. The problem is, Cade is her boss, and the way he sees, it, she’s off limits. She’s Cade’s best officer; he needs her on the tiny Haven Point force. Underneath that, though, Cade doesn’t feel he deserves her, both because of his troubled family history, and because he’s been keeping a secret from her for several years.

Those tensions go unresolved until the last few chapters, but they’re nicely balanced by Wyn’s interactions with her friends, including McKenzie and Devin Shaw from two of the earlier books. There’s also a subplot involving a single mother and two sweet kids — recent arrivals in Haven Point. Andie, the mom, seems oddly tense and standoffish, and Wyn is convinced something’s wrong… so in typical Wyn fashion, she sets out to find out what and to fix it. Several of those threads come together toward the end of the book, in ways that will surprise you only if you haven’t been paying attention — but will keep you turning pages anyway.

Riverbend Road is a lovely addition to the Haven Point series. I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Giveaway

Thanks to the generous folks at Harlequin, I have one paperback copy of Riverbend Road to give away!

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