From Booklist

Journalist Pepper Malone is broke, unemployed, and on the run from her former lover’s powerful and unscrupulous Chicago-based family when she lands in Bailee, Texas, her mother’s birthplace. Something about the small town and its stalwart citizens calls to her, and new friend Lorie Fuller prods her into working for the local newspaper, where she is reluctantly fascinated by, and in turn fascinates, the reclusive Mike McCulloch and his engaging niece Morgan. Random shootings, menacing hang-ups, and other acts of violence soon draw the attention of the FBI as well as local law-enforcement personnel, prompting the locals to band together in support. Thomas seamlessly weaves past and present into a gripping novel of contemporary romantic suspense, as Pepper begins to appreciate the accomplishments of previous generations and to enjoy true friendship and a sense of belonging for the first time in her life. –Lynne Welch

Reporter Pepper Mal (more…)

Review

Great love stories thrive on sacrifice. Throughout The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse), Stephenie Meyer has emulated great love stories–Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights–with the fated, yet perpetually doomed love of Bella (the human girl) and Edward (the vampire who feeds on animals instead of humans). In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella’s story plays out in some unexpected ways. The ongoing conflicts that made this series so compelling–a human girl in love with a vampire, a werewolf in love with a human girl, the generations-long feud between werewolves and vampires–resolve pretty quickly, apparently so that Meyer could focus on Bella’s latest opportunity for self-sacrifice: giving her life for someone she loves even more than Edward. How close she comes to actually making that sacrifice is questionable, which is a big shift from the earlier books. Even though you knew Bella would make it thro (more…)