Daniels (Wrangler's Rescue) mixes romance and danger in her enjoyable Sterling's Montana romantic suspense series launch. A longtime family friend asks Will Sterling to open the family's guest ranch early for an employee retreat, but when his usual cook breaks a leg, he's not sure who will cook for the group. Enter his childhood friend Poppy Carmichael, now a caterer. Poppy had an unrequited crush on Will when they were growing up. Now she's intent on seducing him with food-and then breaking his heart, as he did hers 20 years earlier. Daniels appears to be spinning merely an appealing contemporary until a major snowstorm moves in and the weird vibes emanating from the retreat participants turn into an increasing body count, with little clue as to the perpetrator and no way to escape. Daniels keeps readers baffled with a taut plot and ample red herrings, expertly weaving in the threads of the next story in the series as she introduces a strong group of primary and secondary characters. Readers are left guessing throughout the story, which wraps up with a surprising yet believable series of events and an emotionally satisfying ending that whets appetites for the next book. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A group of oddly contentious employees from a small fly-fishing-vest company in California are coming to Will Sterling's family's guest ranch for a four-day retreat, and his cook has a broken leg. Will needs a miracle-he just never thinks it will come in the form of Poppy Carmichael, back in town after 20 years to launch her own catering business and definitely no longer a pigtailed, freckle-faced 12-year-old. But Will once crushed Poppy's young heart, and now she has an agenda of her own that's all about payback-until it backfires. As a late winter blizzard strands everyone at the ranch, romance blossoms, along with increasing antagonism among the guests-and then the brutal murders start. Likable, relatable protagonists, an assortment of well-defined characters (a spell-casting housekeeper is memorable), and the solid handling of multiple viewpoints keep the story on track. VERDICT Daniels again turns in a taut, well-plotted, and suspenseful tale with plenty of red herrings. Readers will be in from the start and engaged until the end. A strong launch to what promises to be an exciting series. Daniels (Wrangler's Rescue) lives in Montana. © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.