Behind the Shield

by Sheryl Lynn

Buried Secrets

Chief of Police Carson Cody's life was shattered the day his wife was murdered. Now, one year later, the mysterious arrival of Madeline Shay, the daughter of the man who killed his wife, coincided with new evidence in a case closed long ago.

Madeline's appearance caused quite a stir, and soon it became clear that someone wanted her dead. Though Carson knew he should keep his distance, the lawman's honor demanded he protect the innocent beauty.

The key to Madeline's safety lay in solving the clues of a perilous puzzle that only brought them closer together. But was the combustible desire that threatened to consume them an even greater risk?

Genres: Romance

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go in knowing there’s some redneck racism (it’s real, it happens and it is part of the storyline). Woman’s father was part of a hijacking netting several million dollars. He also killed the chief of police’s wife and mayors son (mistaken identity). She comes back to his ranch (now vandalized) to work on her Apache art to sell at fairs and galleries. Meets the chief and the hijacking story comes to the foreground after a year. I guessed some of it, but I did like the story and quick read.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Chief of Police Carson Cody's life was shattered the day his wife was murdered. Now, one year later, the mysterious arrival of Madeline Shay, the daughter of the man who killed his wife, coincided with new evidence in a case closed long ago."
dun dun DUN!
Okay, so maybe I was expecting a little more than I should have from this book. It wasn't bad exactly, and I liked some aspects of the characterization because I appreciate a book that has the hero being the one with less sexual experience. I mean, yeah, he wasn't a virgin, but considering his late wife was his only sexual partner he was basically the next thing to it. I would even give this author another go, because she created conflict that was believable to me (meaning that the prejudice of the town didn't disappear in a magical plot twist) and I found the Noble Idiot gesture of the heroine more than plausible.
My main issue was with the villain and supporting villains. I just found it unbelievable that an officer of the law wouldn't have caught on to SOMETHING. When they established the timeline and the fact that the neighbour guy had constant unexplained absences and no one had a firm idea of what he did for a living...WHY WOULD THAT NOT BE A RED FLAG?!? To *someone* in the department, if not the hero! And he wouldn't check out the insurance guy to verify his identity at the beginning? REALLY?!? It was EXTREMELY frustrating to read.

[Toniette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to figure out

It was easy to figure out who the bad guy was because of how badly he tried to get Madeline to go with him. It threw me for a second him getting shot but that was just accidental. So,he could get in her good graces and she fell for it. Overall, it's a decent read though.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember this book lagging. It actually sounded interesting (That doesn't mean that I didn't know that it was all going to work out all "fairy tale happy" in the end, but still....)
The pacing was off and it took me much longer to finish this than it should have considering the size and content.

[Patty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to force myself to finish. Reads like a high school assignment; one-dimensional characters; plot made little sense; pretty much everyone was TSTL

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy reading romantic mystery.