The first novel this week in the CFBA Tour is The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann published by Bethany House. The Breath of Dawn reunites readers with Morgan Spencer, his brother Rick and wife Noelle and their young son Liam, making this book the third, many years later, following A Rush of Wings and The Still of Night. It might not be quite as long as the two previous novels, but it's definitely longer than the average romantic suspense in CBA - which is a good thing.
When a Kristen Heitzmann contemporary novel releases, I'm all over it. Few CBA authors can do romance with her depth, her skills at subtle dialogue that smolders, and her ability to capture the essence of real attraction that leads unequivocally to romance. Never silly but occasionally humorous because of the foolishness we can experience in the midst of attraction, the insecurity, and all the intensity of inner struggles which accommodate establishing mutual feelings, Kristen Heitzmann is a master at creating all the romantic tension two people can endure before relationship results.
The novel opens at the gravesite of Morgan Spencer's wife Jill, killed instantly in a car crash, leaving him with their precious two year old daughter "Livie". The grief is palpable and the pain is searing, perfectly done.
Time marches on and as Morgan and Livie stay in a cabin at his brother Rick's guest ranch in the high country of Colorado, his fame as the "success guru" gained from righting businesses and turning them into money-making enterprises seems like another lifetime. He hasn't been back to his mansion in Santa Barbara since Jill's death, and he contemplates buying a small local home not too far from Rick's ranch to ease Livie into life without Rick, Noelle, and Liam so he can eventually return to his former life. The owner of the unusual house has died, her daughter RaeAnn is visiting from her home in Texas to make arrangements for getting it ready to sell. She hires a woman named Quinn Reilly to take care of her mom's near-hoarded belongings and forms an instant friendship with Quinn.
In the process of learning what RaeAnn intends to keep and what Quinn is free to sell for her business on Ebay, Quinn meets all of the Spencers and experiences both attraction and conflict with Morgan. She recognizes his pain instantly but doesn't appreciate his occasional jabs and curt treatment that seem to follow his kindness and humor. Without the knowledge of his having lost his wife, she attempts to keep things all business, but her spunk won't always let him get away with being a sometimes jerk. Morgan finds himself in the odd position of finding this petite package rather attractive and loads himself down with guilt over it causing the rudeness he knows is wrong. Livie makes no bones about her rapport with Quinn which surprises and unsettles Morgan in an eventually positive way.
Quinn Erin Reilly is on the run. She's found her tiny chalet in the Colorado mountains hoping she can hide there from the man who seeks revenge for her testimony against his con job on her father's cultish church which put the man in prison for four years. When she gets a terrifying phone call from her older sister who's always resented her and has been manipulated by the con man, Quinn's hope that she can stay tucked away there disintegrates.
When she's invited to Thanksgiving dinner at the Spencer ranch and offers to cook the meal since Noelle is both sick and a terrible cook, a snowstorm keeps her there overnight, and a definite "something" begins with Morgan.
The complexities and fears in Quinn's life slowly reveal themselves to Morgan who offers an extreme solution to her request for help. Motivated by fear, Quinn accepts Morgan's plan which leads to far more than either of them expected.
Told from multiple points of view, the development of the relationship between Quinn, who must revert to using her middle name Erin, and Morgan, we get detailed pictures of different individuals in this story. Capturing personal pain with a magnifying glass, Quinn and Morgan's different situations cause us to empathize with each of them along with our frustrations in their mutual stubbornness. Kristen Heitzmann writes well, takes her time to develop new characters and flesh in the "old" familiar ones while adding peripheral people who contribute directly to the history past and present of her main characters. It's a good story even though we know the outcome. The telling of it presents a treat for fans of this author. I loved the story.
If you enjoy non-typical romantic suspense that gives romance a dose of reality and injects faith in God to a prominent but subtle place, designs a dashing hero, a strong but vulnerable heroine, a pathetic sister, and a vengeful villain, you won't be disappointed in The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann. The only complaint I have - which is incidental and totally my opinion - is the cover. I don't like it even a little bit and don't picture Quinn Erin Reilly as the girl on the cover.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764210424
Father, I pray you would continue to fill Kristen with stories, to bless all she does to honor you, and encourage her in every area of her life as you direct her steps. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.