The Homecoming-JoAnn Ross

The Homecoming
JoAnn Ross
Signet, Jul 6 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451230676

Former Navy SEAL Sax Douchett survived being wounded and alone presumed dead by his mates as the Taliban assassins went after him in the Hindu Kush region. He survived, but even more harrowing was his few weeks of “incarceration” at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Finally he is allowed to return home to Shelter Bay, physically healed but mentally questionable as he still suffers flashbacks.

While walking with his dog Velcro, the Irish Wolfhound mutt deposits a human bone at his feet. As he thinks of the fickle finger of fate, Widow Sheriff Kara Conway receives the dispatcher’s excited call re his dog finding the bone. Kara is upset as she left the Oceanside PD to raise her eight years old son Trey in a safe environs following the death of his dad her beloved Jared in the line of duty as a cop handling a domestic dispute. As she works the case, someone wants the inquiry ended. At the same time Kara and Sax fall in love; he knows he loved her as a teen and never stopped while she has a list of reasons not to get involved with the middle Douchette sibling starting with Trey though Sax is so good with her son.

The Shelter Bay police procedural romantic suspense stars two likable lead characters and a strong support cast which obviously including Kara’s son; but also SEALs, the memory of Jared, and the townsfolk. The investigative story line is character driven by Kara and Sax who have a myriad of reasons for not getting involved.

Harriet Klausner