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Small Town Scandals #2

The Heartbreak Sheriff

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From a New York Times–bestselling author, a single mother is arrested for murder by the cop she was once in love with in this romantic suspense novel.Single mom Sarah Connelly can’t believe it when her ex-boyfriend arrests her. Sheriff Patrick “Finn” Finnegan keeps assuring Sarah he’ll get her out of trouble, but her trust in him was annihilated long ago. Still, just being in his larger-than-life presence sets Sarah’s pulse racing. . . .Finn knows in his heart Sarah is innocent of murdering smalltown bad-girl Teresa Donovan. But he can’t ignore the overwhelming evidence against Sarah—nor the desire he still feels for her. Somehow he’s got to find the real killer and convince the only woman he’ll ever love to give him a second chance.

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2011

116 people are currently reading
1229 people want to read

About the author

Elle Kennedy

187 books89.2k followers
A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.

Elle currently writes for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!

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5 stars
119 (22%)
4 stars
171 (32%)
3 stars
169 (31%)
2 stars
59 (11%)
1 star
13 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
Profile Image for Auntee.
1,356 reviews1,470 followers
December 7, 2011
Ahhh...in this exciting follow-up to Millionaire's Last Stand, the character of Sheriff Patrick "Finn" Finnegan redeems himself in my eyes. He's a lot different when he's working to protect someone he loves. Read no further unless you've already read Millionaire's Last Stand...

In this story, Finn's lost love of 4 years ago, single mom Sarah Connelly, is the latest to be accused of the murder of town bad-girl Teresa Donovan. Finn and Sarah share a past, a past marred by tragedy and mistrust. Even though Finn is forced to arrest art gallery owner Sarah because of some damning evidence linking her to the murder, he knows his Sarah didn't do it. And he'll move heaven and earth to prove it. Finn has never gotten over his feelings for beautiful brunette Sarah, and is ashamed of the way he let her down years ago. But Finn is older and more mature now, and if Sarah would give him another chance, he would show her how much he still loves her. But will love be enough? Can Sarah find it in her heart to forgive Finn, and more importantly, trust him not to let her down again?

Good book. I enjoyed reading Finn and Sarah's passionate yet tragic back story, and was pleased to find out more about Finn and what makes him "tick". I felt I knew him a lot better in this book, and admired his determination to finally solve the murder mystery haunting his small town.

I enjoyed reading about Sarah too (although she spent an awful lot of time crying in this book!) I felt the motherly passion and protectiveness she had for her adopted newborn daughter, and I wanted her to give Finn another chance because I knew she wasn't over him either. Their love scenes? Well it took a while to get there, but when it did...*sigh* C'mon Sarah, give him another chance!

Good suspense (okay, I was fooled about who the killer was--I didn't see that coming), hot lovers-reunited romance, and a near tragic ending involving Sarah and baby Lucy when they are confronted by the unlikely murderer. This one was a real page turner, and even included a sweet little epilogue. 4 1/2 stars

*Note: To fully enjoy this story, please read Millionaire's Last Stand first.
Profile Image for Saly.
3,437 reviews579 followers
July 12, 2013
So, I didn't like Finn in the last book, in this the murder investigation points to Sarah, the woman he loves and who he badly let down four years ago. Sarah has rebuilt her life and has adopted a baby girl. Her being implicated makes Finn's protective instincts rise and puts her in his horizons again and this time he is older and wiser and wants to fight for her and make it upto her, he knows it won't be easy but he's not giving up, he will prove her innocent, recover her baby who gets kidnapped and do anything to re-gain her trust.

It was great reading a book where the hero does all the chasing and he deserved to grovel. Both he and Sarah were in love and living together when she fell pregnant, he didn't want the baby, because his own childhood consisted of a mother who was mentally ill and then the baby died in the uterus and Sarah had a break down and he walked away, all his old memories of his childhood rose to the surface. He regrets what he did, letting the woman he loved down but this time he won't let her down.

Sarah on her part doesn't want Finn back, it took her two years of therapy to put herself back together and though she has forgiven him she can't trust him or put her baby's heart on the line. I think the author did a brilliant job of showing Finn's remorse, he put his heart on the heart on the line countless times in the book, asking for forgiveness and telling her that he will win her trust back and loves her. He does get impatient once but knows that he was wrong in trying to rush her. Overall I enjoyed the book, it kept me engaged.
Profile Image for Debbie DiFiore.
2,712 reviews312 followers
September 26, 2019
Okay good plot for mystery but I totally hated the so called hero. He leaves her after she lost the baby he didn't want and she has a mental breakdown. Then four years later he wants her back, after he arrests her for murder. Because guess what, he always loved her. Except for those times he slept with other women and they weren't as good anyway. He never got as excited with them as he did the heroine. Well I am so glad to know that! NOT! Ruined the entire book for me. I hated him anyway and at about 75% he has those thoughts. The way he was thinking I thought he had been celibate because he loved her so much and had been missing her for four years regretting how callously he treated her. But no. Another slimeball who dropped his responsibilities and moved on while she wallowed in grief for the death of her unborn baby. Now he wants her back and she forgives him after he saved her from the fire. I really hated him. I didn't see no grovel either. He was like it's us or nothing and walked on her a second time. Such a jerk.

The mystery was good and I was surprised at the villain.

Just not my mind of story. If you loved the heroine so much you wouldn't have left her in the first place and you definitely wouldn't have slept with other women.

Pig jerk and the bad thing is, you didn't even need that part. Why out it in the book even? So sick of these trite overused romance plots. I didn't want her to move on either but if she had at least I wouldn't have blamed her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
93 reviews
October 13, 2023
3.5 stars rounded down

I’m not even sure what type of book this is, it has a little bit of everything which is what made it such an easy read. I read it in one sitting. I enjoyed the book but didn’t love it. It was predictable but also a nice easy read. If you’re looking for a quick easy thoughtless read this is a book for you
Profile Image for Ally.Always.Reads.
761 reviews135 followers
February 12, 2018
*2018 50 States Reading Challenge-North Carolina*

So I started this last night after being in a short slump this weekend. I sped through over half of it, I didn't want to put it down...This morning was a different story though. I was a little low getting through the rest of it.
When I started, I didn't realize that it had a book before it. I wish I had known because both books were surrounding one investigation. I didn't feel like I was missing anything or confused with a lack of information which was nice so it's not necessary to read the first book but it would've been nice to have the first part of the story.

I did not like the end. (Not going to elaborate because I would ruin the whole book...obviously.)
I also did not like the fact that the time period for both books together was about a month. It's too short of a time for me....I just don't like it. The couple in this book was together years ago so it's different that just meeting and two weeks later, they're getting married. But still! A month for two books? Not a fan.
Profile Image for Idoia Martínez.
1,116 reviews27 followers
October 9, 2020
Bueno... No ha estado mal, pero no me ha emocionado. La historia de misterio está bien, pero entre Finn y Sarah tampoco he sentido demasiado los sentimientos ni la autora ha profundizado demasiado. No sé, creo que me ha faltado un poco de desarrollo de la parte amorosa, del pasado, de cómo se sienten.
Pero tampoco ha estado mal.
Una novela ligera y que te hace pasar un buen rato.
Profile Image for Pamela(AllHoney).
2,691 reviews376 followers
August 13, 2025
I definitely recommend reading Millionaire's Last Stand first since this is a continuation of it. In Millionaire's Last Stand, a murder was committed and the investigation began. This story begins with evidence linking the heroine, Sarah Connelly, to the crime scene. Sheriff Patrick Finnegan, who has a history with Sarah, must work hard to find the true murderer or Sarah will stand trial. A few twists and turns kept me turning the pages.
Profile Image for GuisBell.
1,299 reviews31 followers
October 24, 2016
Y los acertijos siguen, y pues todos me parecían sospechosos hasta el alcalde me causaba desconfianza por querer inculpar a quien sea sin tener muchas pruebas, pero ni siquiera se me paso por la cabeza esa persona, y con eso concluye la intriga. ;) y el amor pues, se sintió un poco.
Profile Image for The Glassed And The Furious.
1,061 reviews47 followers
December 7, 2018
Alright, so full disclosure: I didn't read the first book of this series, which I thought was going to be more of a problem than it actually was. Apart from needing some more time to get on with the characters, the story works by itself.
I generally really liked the idea of a sheriff having to arrest a woman he's still in love with. I liked his struggle and the ethical dilemma of it all. I think that part worked well. I also enjoyed the twists and turns this story took, even though it was not all that surprising. Some things are pretty predictable, but not necessarily in a bad way.
My biggest beef with this novel was with its main character: Patrick Finnegan, or Finn.

Apart from that, it was quite a nice story, which I read probably in about two hours. So it definitely keeps you interested and the pacing of the story is really nice, so you never feel like there is a drag where you skip a few pages until something happens again. So that was good.
If Finn had been developed differently, I probably would have given this 5 stars though, so characterwise this definitely was a letdown.
Profile Image for Alejandra RL.
1,169 reviews
October 1, 2020
1.5 de calificación

A pesar que este libro cierra con todos los acontecimiento y salen varios personajes de la entrega anterior, no me ha gustado tanto.
Es cierto que la historia pasada entre Sarah y Finn esta fuerte pues no me ha convencido tanto. Vamos, que desde un principio sabíamos como terminaría la cosa entre ellos.

Sarah Conelly me gusto como personaje, con todas las inseguridades, su decisión de labrarse un buen futuro para ella y para su hija y y otros aspectos la convirtieron en un personaje realista.

El problema para mi fue Patrick Finnegan, toda su onda de macho alfa de pueblo pequeño y su impaciencia por volver con Sarah terminaron restándole puntos.

Esta fue una bilogía entretenida y nada mas, libros para pasar una tarde y olvidar sin mas.
Aun creo que la pluma de Elle Kennedy no es mala.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
1,882 reviews27 followers
May 31, 2018
This is book 2. I did not read book 1 and wasn't lost, but your enjoyment would probably be enhanced to read book 1. Finn (sheriff) is between a rock and a hard place. All evidence of a murder points to his ex-lover/girlfriend - Sarah, a single mom. His past relationship with Sarah is a stumbling block all the way around as he searches for the real killer. This is a quick easy read.
Profile Image for Flo.
1,156 reviews18 followers
December 2, 2023
Waste of time

An old romance comes back to haunt Sarah and the sheriff, Finn, the man she loves is eager to bed her despite his being the sheriff and Sarah being the suspect in a murder case. Sarah also has a daughter. Just the usual mess.
187 reviews2 followers
December 13, 2023
Have to be kidding

Not worth .99 and I couldn't make it half way through. A worthy plot full of ridiculous characters, and one sketches out to be an FBI agent. Comp!story unbelievable due to their totally idiotic behavior. Don't bother!
Profile Image for Ángela Fraga.
27 reviews
December 23, 2025
Finn es insoportable. Como vuelva a decir "cariño"...
Me gustaba como le respondía Sarah...lo malo es que terminó sucumbiendo a sus tonterías.
La trama thriller, bien. No sé nada del género, así que...
Profile Image for Michaela.
392 reviews1 follower
August 10, 2017
This was really interesting as far as Mills & Boon go but the ending really ruined it, there should have been another chapter instead of just tacking the reunion on at the end.
Profile Image for Jocelyn.
1,401 reviews4 followers
July 9, 2020
What a roller coaster of emotions in the 2 second book of this series!!!
Great read☺
Profile Image for Sherry.
308 reviews
July 9, 2020
Cheesy, over the top, Lifetime movie, manufactured drama.... I can't believe I stuck it out. This cannot possibly be the same Elle Kennedy I know and love.
This was amateur at best.
Profile Image for Sue .
155 reviews4 followers
September 2, 2022
Good reading and a good story, with lots of turns and twists to the plot. Great for an afternoon read.
Profile Image for Morgan.
108 reviews1 follower
April 1, 2024
One of Elle Kennedy’s older books. A good short suspense romance story
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews

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