An intricate murder mystery.

The book starts off with U.S. Marshall Dallas Walker crashing his childhood girlfriend, Joelle Tate, wedding. Seem's she had done an investigation into a murder that happened long ago and he thinks it implicates his foster father. Boy, from here the intricate plot takes off.. Joelle is drugged and Dallas kidnaps her from the church, attempts are made on their lives, and we find she was being blackmailed into the wedding and then suddenly a whole new cast of suspects on who could have committed the murder are introduced.

The author did a great job of keeping you guessing as to what was going on and not giving to many clues to soon. There are a whole cast of foster brothers that are all U.S. Marshall's that I assume will be getting there own books in the future. I'm hooked and look forward to reading them.


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In Fossen’s romantic suspense novel, U.S. Marshal Dallas Walker isn’t happy about taking Joelle Tate into protective custody on her wedding day to someone else. But he would do anything for his family and right now he needed to stop pending charges against his foster father. What Dallas doesn’t know is that Joelle has just placed her life and freedom on hold to do just that—protect his family. A long-buried crime has surfaced and they have two days to solve it, confront past choices, and face up to the secret that drove them apart all those years ago. Attraction still simmers between them and they must fight the urge while trying to defeat a calculating killer that won’t stop until their dead.

A fast-paced, hard to put down installment to The Marshals of Maverick County. ( )

Good book. Dallas and his foster brothers had all been residents of a group home run by a man who used to beat them. About the time his foster father took them all away the man disappeared. Now Dallas's old girlfriend is about to marry a man who was also one of the residents and she has information that could link his foster father to murder. When he confronts her shortly before her wedding he discovers she is being blackmailed into the marriage. He takes her away and they end up with just two days to find out the truth.

Dallas has no intention of letting his father be charged with murder. When he confronts Joelle he also has to face the fact that his attraction to her is still there. I really liked watching him fight his feelings as he finds out that the only reason she is marrying Owen is to protect Dallas from being charged with murder. The only way they can save themselves is to work together. The more they investigate the more people they find who had the motivation and the opportunity. Dallas is also confronted with the reason that she broke things off with him when they were teenagers and he now has to deal with those feelings of betrayal. I loved the way that Dallas's loyalty and gratitude to his father caused him to be certain that the man was innocent and that he was willing to do whatever was needed to find the truth. I also loved the way that he finally accepted the truth of his feelings for Joelle.

Joelle was being blackmailed by Owen into marrying him. She had information on him also but she was more concerned about protecting Dallas than getting Owen. Joelle had never gotten over her teenage love for Dallas. She had broken things off with him to keep him from giving up the chance for a better future and as a result had broken both their hearts. She knew that he would never forgive her if he ever found out the truth. I loved her strength of will and the way she was willing to protect Dallas. She also had an excellent ability to figure things out and was able to find out some things about two of the murder suspects that they hadn't known before. I loved the way that she accepted responsibility for keeping her secret but also made sure Dallas knew why she had done it.

The mystery and action were pretty intense because of the short time in which they took place. The unraveling of the clues was very intricate because of all the possible suspects. ( )

4 STARS
The Marshall's Hostage is book one of The Marshals of Maverick County series
Marshall Kirby took in foster boys and they all became marshalls too. The boys were at a group home where the manager used to beat the kids. Kirby was trying to get it closed down. He wanted to get some of the boys into his care and might have cut corners. The manager ended going missing for years. Now his body was found.

Joelle Tate was sent in by the Governor to investigate the murder. She used to live there too. Now on her wedding day U.S. Marshall Dallas Walker shows up and wants to talk to her right before her wedding to Owen. Owen was in the same home with them. Dallas wants
to ask her about the report she is sending in, especially about Kirby's part in it.

Joelle and Dallas were a couple in their teens, till Joelle broke it off. She refused to see him after he left with Kirby and she got put in a good foster home. Joelle was keeping secrets from Dallas.
She wanted Dallas to leave before Owen arrived. If he did not leave it would ruin everything. All she was hoping to do to protect him.

Joelle started to act weird. Someone had drugged her. Dallas got her out of the Church when she would not let him call 911 for her. He took her out into the woods to get to his brothers cabin and four wheeler that he had. Before he could get them out of their gunmen appeared and wanted to escort Joelle back to the church so she can get married. They told her if she does not come with them then Owen will let Dallas know her secret.
They shoot out the tires of the four wheeler.

While they are on the run Joelle tells Dallas that Owen has a knife with his prints on it and Webb's blood. Also it was wrapped in a hanky of Kirby's. She was trying to protect Dallas. Owen said if she married him he would not turn it in.

The suspense is good, kept me guessing till the end. Lots of drama and action. Things would calm down and then something else would happen. Their are some secrets still. I want to see what happens next in this series.

I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review when finished by Netgalley.
Publisher: Harlequin (April 23, 2013) Harlequin Intrigue Series 224 pages ISBN-10: 0373696868 ( )