I knew this was a romance, even a Harlequin romance, but I like mysteries, thrillers, and books set in the West. This book has all three and was really good. I read it only once.
( )

This book is what they call a train wreck. I don't know where to begin.

First of all, this is not a romance, but a whodunnit which is solved by a man and a woman. The first 3/4 of the book is devoted to a mystery.
Laney and Nick are busy solving it and I feel no sparks between them. Worse, all characters in this book, including the protagonists, are very cardboardy and seem to have one character trait at the most, almost making them caricatures.

The second plot line in the book consists of Nick moaning that he has to stay undercover 'otherwise he's dead'. He does so every few pages, so that soon gets irritating and you wish for him to get caught so you'll hear what it's all about. Only at the end of the book do we get the explanation why he's on the run.
This plot line is implausible and riddled with holes.

Lastly, they seemed to have forgotten to edit this book. Not only does it have two weird plot lines, it also isn't a romance, parts of sentences have gone missing so they don't make sense, and lastly there' are just plain weird and illogical things. E.g. a stranger turns up and Laney instantly think he's surprisingly good looking. Why is this surprising? Because he's a villain? Not only doesn't she know that yet, even if she would have known it's stupid reasoning.

All in all, it's a terrible book. And even worse: this was a free ebook (I'm very happy about that) because Harlequin wanted to promote this line... Well, if this is a good example of that line, count me out. ( )

Read through it and enjoyed it.
Suspense, romance, cooking, murder. This book had it all. ( )

'The New Deputy in Town' is a great story about a man
forced to work in a new place far away from all that
he had ever known. He had no choice - his life depended on it.
Laney & her sister, Laci, was "home" for a visit with their
grandparents. They were the only family the girls had left.
There was instant "sparks' between Laney and the Sheriff from the
first time they saw each other. This attraction could not evolve
into anymore than just that - attraction. There could be serious
relationships develop since his time here was only temporary.
There was never a lull in the adventure, mystery and every day
life portrayed in the story.
There was plenty of action and intrigue.
B. J. is a very talented writer. The sex scene was so brief I
failed to understand the need to put it in. It made it unfit for
the YA audience and many Christian readers. Otherwise, it was very
clean, enjoyable reading. ( )

Some nice intrigue and suspense mixed in with the romance! Made for an awful twisted small town, but an enjoyable read. ( )