This was my second time reading this. The last time was over 10 years ago (it was released in 2001) so I didn't remember any of it.
This is a romantic suspense that is heavy on the suspense and a bit lighter on the romance.
TRIGGER WARNING: child abuse and rape. There are no rape scenes. There is the start of one, ans it's the heroine's memory where she is able to get away from her attacker before he rapes her. There is a lot of discussion about the physical and emotional abuse that the heroine endured at the hands of her parents and then a lot of discussion of other girls that the villain raped and abused.
The suspense of the story doesn't really start til about halfway through. The first half is really about establishing who Genna is, what she endured as a child and where her and John's relationship is currently at. It's all written in a way that is engaging and I wasn't ever bored with it. I do wish the suspense had of started earlier in the book, especially since it's a romantic suspense, but I did enjoy it for what it was.
The romance also doesn't pick up til 60% or a little farther in. There is one sex scene, that is one paragraph long. It's not exactly vague, but it's also not very detailed. It's very clear what's happening but not explicit. There's little to no use of swear words.
I'm gonna keep on with my rereads of Mariah Stewart's other suspense novels! The next one in the series I remember being a favorite of mine and I hope my memory lives up!