After the disaster with Tongue in Chic I considered cutting my losses, but I had a generally positive impression of Gabe so I decided to give this one a try.
Note: This book was the final installment in both the Fortune Hunters series, and another Dodd series, The Lost Texas Hearts. There were a few things that made it obvious that this book tied to a second series, but that didn’t affect my ability to follow the story.
Hannah Grey is a home care nurse in desperate need of a job when Carrick Manly hires her to take care of his mother at Balfour House, the family home in Maine. Hannah is initially thrilled to have the job, but it doesn’t take her long to suspect that something is very wrong. Melinda Manly is a very difficult patient and she and her son do not get along at all. Hannah is also disturbed by the change in Carrick’s attitude. He soon makes it clear that Melinda has something he wants and he expects Hannah to help him get it. When she refuses Carrick frames Hannah for crimes that he committed. When she isn’t able to get anyone to believe that she’s innocent she goes on the run.
When the police aren’t able to locate Hannah Carrick turns to his half-brother, investigator Gabe Prescott, for help tracking her down. While Gabe is following Hannah he starts to suspect that the case is not what it seems, which leaves him torn. His background has left him so desperate to think well of his biological relations that he can’t bring himself to doubt Carrick’s story, but he’s strongly attracted to Hannah and finds it difficult to believe that she’s a dangerous criminal. He tries to get close to enough to Hannah to find the truth, but only succeeds in falling in love with her without telling her who he really is or why he’s with her.
When Hannah discovers the truth she decides that there’s no one she can trust and the only hope she has of ever getting her life back is to return to Balfour House on her own and find proof to clear her name. Gabe is then forced to chose between believing the brother he only recently found and the woman he’s fallen for. In the process he finds out the truth about his long-lost biological father.
I liked both Hannah and Gabe more than I liked the preceding pairings in the series. I found their issues, both individually and jointly, fairly believable and reasonable. Hannah made one bad decision and her whole life fell apart. It’s understandable that she has trust issues and that she hates thinking that she has made another error in judgment. Gabe is forced to deal with the fact that he’s dragging around more issues from his childhood than he had realized. All of that worked for me. I also liked the fact that in the end Gabe’s whole family comes through for him and helps him fix the mess he made with Hannah. It was a bit cheesy, but I liked Gabe enough that I didn’t care.
The other good thing about this final installment in the series is that it actually got me interested in Nathan Manly’s disappearance and I wasn’t bored by the resolution.
Grade: C.
So, the 4 books in this series are tied together by the mystery of the disappearance of Nathan Manly and the fact that all 4 heroes lied about their identities. The mystery was OK, but the parade of lying wasn’t a good thing. Neither was the lack of credibility in most of the plots and the annoying behavior of most of the characters.
Series Grade: D
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