TRUE BLUE - Bernadette Pruitt
Five Star
ISBN: 978-1-59414-701-2
August 2008
Contemporary Romance

Mountain Springs, Colorado - Present Day

While negotiating Denver traffic with her two-year-old son Nicky, widowed graphic artist Hadley Spencer is looking forward to returning to the quiet suburb where she moved last year. Hadley chose to live near one of her few relatives, Aunt Margaret, and has comfortably settled into her new life. Ignoring a small twinge for several hours suddenly becomes an emergency situation for Hadley. Barely able to drive, she happens upon a police station just before slumping over. When an officer arrives to render assistance, Hadley begs him to look after her son before she is taken to an arriving ambulance.

Officer Drake Matthieson was just leaving for a week-long vacation when Hadley pulled into the police lot. He desperately tries to find care for the young boy, but with both Hadley’s aunt and Nicky’s babysitter out of town, no willing volunteers around the station, and Child Welfare unable to take him right away, Drake is the only one left. When he finds out that Hadley is the widow of an officer killed in the line of duty in Texas, Drake knows what he has to do. With no experience of any kind in caring for a young child, it is a daunting task that awaits him. How can a man with only two goals in life, to be a good cop and to never marry, cope? He jumps right in, feet first.

Hadley is leery of leaning on Drake too much. She has sworn never to even date another cop, but a series of coincidences and encounters keep Hadley and Drake bumping into each other. After Hadley arrives home expecting to begin caring for Nicky herself, Drake insists on helping out for another couple of days so she can heal. When he needs a date to protect himself from a sticky situation, Drake asks Hadley to be his pretend date for a function, since she insists on returning the favor he has done her. Deciding they can be just friends, each ignores the growing attraction they feel. When Hadley recognizes a missing girl’s art at a show as the sketch for a work she viewed in Texas, they will have their relationship tested as they try to solve an old mystery that has haunted Drake for years.

TRUE BLUE is a sweet and feeling tale of two people determined to follow the paths they have set. Hadley has created a life of security and minimal risk to protect herself and Nicky. She fights the charming allure of Drake tooth and nail, even as Nicky grows increasingly attached to him. Drake lost both parents as a child and was shuttled around, unwanted by anyone. He isn’t willing to risk leaving a widow or family. With Drake’s playboy reputation and Hadley’s determination to limit their relationship, their time together runs from caustic to comic. Good writing and pacing add to each character’s appeal. For a gentle and heartfelt romance, don’t miss the recommended TRUE BLUE.

Jennell