When last we left the McCoys, youngest brother David was getting married. This latest story takes up with eldest brother Connor, who is mighty uncomfortable standing up for yet another wedding.
Connor pretty much raised his younger brothers after their mother died when he was nine. Believing he did a poor job if it, he's determined never to marry or have children of his own. He doesn't want to mess up other lives. Bronte O'Brian is making that decision a difficult one to keep. He's 'known' Bronte from their college days, and recalls his attraction to her even then. She's even more attractive now than she was in college. How's he going to keep his distance?
Bronte O'Brian is Kelli Hatfield McCoy's best friend and maid of honor. Bronte got out of a bad relationship a few months earlier, and like Connor is determined not to get involved with anyone again. It hurts too much. But the lovely U. S. junior attorney is going to find herself involved with the handsome U. S. marshall, on several levels, when he's accused of murdering the witness he's been protecting. Can Bronte figure out what's going on and make sense of the evidence against Connor?
In the last of the McCoy brothers' stories, Connor's tale is a little different than the norm. Rather than the hero being down on women when it comes to relationships, he uses his own 'parental childhood' as an example of what he believes he should have done differently. How many nine year olds get thrust into the role of parent to four younger siblings? Feelings of inadequacy in that role are the basis for his decision not to marry. But it can't stop the feelings he discovers may exist for Bronte.
Tori Carrington goes to the heart of the story and explores the feelings and beliefs of both Connor and Bronte, and the effects on their current situation. You get involved with the characters and the mystery of the murdered witness. You also get a better understanding of what happened to Sean McCoy when his wife died. More than that, you see the coming together of a family in a time of crisis. You'll have a hard time putting this one down.
If you think you can skip the McCoy series, Never Say Never (Again).
Reviewed by Brenda Gayle