CLOSE ENEMY BY SANDRA DAILEY

Title: Close Enemy

Author: Sandra Dailey

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Pages: 242

Publisher: Wild Rose Press

SYNOPSIS: Caleb McCrae is a powerful man with a broken soul. In six years, Leah was the only person to help him forget the painful memories, but only for one night. Now she seems to have disappeared. A mysterious letter arrives, and she’s in trouble…in more ways than one.
Leah Fletcher’s life is complicated. To care for her drug and alcohol addicted mother she works at a sleazy men’s club...until she finds out she’s pregnant and is framed for a crime that lands her in jail. When a stranger visits, she learns her troubles have just begun.

Bogdan Petrov has waited eleven years to get back the money Leah’s father stole from him. Despite her denials, he knows she’s hiding it. He’s arranged to infiltrate every part of her life until he gets what he wants, but soon realizes that an unknown person is doing the same to him.

REVIEW:  Leah is a tough woman who needs help for several reasons. One she is in jail for something she didn’t do. Two she is very pregnant. Three the person who put her in jail, she thinks has married her mother who is an alcoholic and addicted to drugs. This sounds like a lot for one person to deal with but through it all Leah is very strong until she finds out that her child will be either given to her mother and her stepdad or will be put into the foster system. She believes her stepdad, Bogdan is the one who set her up. Also that he is the one who killed her father for taking money from him. He thinks Leah has the money and intends to get it back. She makes a desperate decision to send a letter to the one man she can trust to help her.

Caleb McCrae is a damaged man. Since the death of his child and fiancé, he has been going through the motions of life. He can’t stand to be around his brother or friends’ new babies and he blames himself for the accident that took the two people away from him. When he gets a letter from Leah, the one person that helped him forget the tragedy for one night he had to find out why she was in jail. He met her at a gentleman’s club and didn’t know what he was walking into. He had been looking for her since that night.

He gets to the jail where Leah is being held and finds a very pregnant woman. Since she took him home with her after one night, he figured it wasn’t his. They had only been together one time. Leah told him it was her child and she had to protect it. Since Caleb was in family law she figured he could help her out. He decides to look into it for her.

When Leah is attacked in jail and is thrown into labor. Caleb has to do some quick thinking. He tells the hospital the baby is his and they let him take the baby and Leah home with him.

But the plot thickens, Leah is being hunted and by more than one person. She is forced to stay in Caleb’s family house which is more like a hotel with so many rooms and floors to protect her and the baby.

This is when things go crazy. Leah’s friend Rosie protected her in jail and she asks Caleb to help her friend out. She finds out Rosie was protecting her daughter from a street gang and Caleb gets her case thrown out of court. They release Rosie so she is staying at the McCrae family’s house with her mom and daughter.

When her mother “falls” down her steps and is admitted into the hospital she wants to go see her. The hospital visit turns chilling when both Rosie’s daughter and Leah’s baby are kidnapped. So many things don’t add up. The police are called and they are checking out every person they can think of that would want the children. Bogdan is at the top of the list but he has other problems. His gentlemen’s club is being investigated for several deaths happening in and around there. He is busy with his own problems.

During this time Caleb and Leah are getting closer but he is so guilty for wanting Leah and her child. He is torn and confused by all this. Leah knows that Caleb won’t be able to accept her and her baby.

I loved this story. It was not too short or too long. The beginning of the story drew me in and I wanted to continue reading to find out what happened to Leah, her baby and Caleb. I wanted to see if they would get their HEA. I am not telling but it is a very good story. The Russians involved in it kept things very interesting. It was almost like you had 2-3 stories going on at once but it flowed smoothly. I didn’t feel I was ever lost or confused. The characters were all so unique and different from each other. It was great to see Caleb’s family pitching in to not only open up but welcome Leah and the baby into their home. Also how they came to the rescue of Rosie, her daughter and mother. This story showed me what good people in the world could do for each other. If the world was a little more like this it would be a better place definitely. I gave the story 4 Flaming Hearts.