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2006 EcataRomance Reviewers Choice Nominee
 

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Burning Reflections,   2007 Samhain Publishing ISBN: 978-1599984025 Genre: Suspense/Thriller Format: Print When all hell breaks loose, there's only one way to run. Morgan Hennessy is a high-powered, North Carolina attorney who's spent the past five years trying to forget her failed marriage to someone she'd once considered to be her best friend. Just when she thinks she's gotten things together,  the attentions of a colleague

turn obsessive.  Alive after one vicious attack, Morgan knows only one person can protect her now. Her ex-husband.

The one man who still owns her heart.

Evan Hennessy, the small town sheriff of Skyler, North Carolina, has never forgotten the love he shared with his ex-wife and when she returns to his town, needing protection, he can't refuse her. To do so would mean denying his own heart. And when she needs him to reassure her she's as sexy as she once was despite her scars, Evan will do that, too. She walked out on him once and he's been waiting five years for her return. Hell itself won't be able to tear her out of his arms this time.

This book started off with a heart-pounding weird feeling that lets you know things are not going to go well for the heroine. I think I sat forward in my chair as I read the first chapter. What happened was not what I expected and I think I actually gasped out loud. Ms. Carrington has written a brilliantly evil character in Dexter Canfield. One who likes to play with fire but not really as your typical arsonist. I loved this book. I liked all of the characters, found the love story real, and the suspense was very well-done.
~ Gotta Write Network 4.5 Flames

Rachel Carrington writes a very suspenseful story with Burning Reflections. She gives the characters such real emotion and feeling that you are waiting to see what happens with each page turn.
~Literary Nymphs

Rachel Carrington has written a page-turner that I couldn’t put down. I will definitely be looking for more stories by her.
~Joyfully Reviewed

This is probably the best romantic suspense story I have ever had the pleasure of reading.  Rachel Carrington finally made that happen for me. What an amazing author. She is definitely an author to compete with in this genre. I will be on the edge of my seat looking for new books from her.
~Five Angels from Fallen Angels Reviews

Rachel Carrington has penned a love story full of action and intrigue that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.
~ 4 1/2 lips from Two Lips Reviews

Burning Reflections is one of the best Rachel Carrington books to date, written in a way that is, in one word, mesmerizing.   If this book is any indication of stories to come, Rachel Carrington is going to take off in her writing career. Burning Reflections is one book that should be added to anyone's to-be-read list. It is guaranteed to make Rachel Carrington an author that you will actively seek out time and time again.
~Five Clovers and a Recommended Read from CK2s Kwips and Kritiques

Reading a romantic suspense novel that packs a helluva punch is one of my favorite ways to pass an afternoon. BURNING REFLECTIONS is all of that and more.
~Romance Reviews Today

Burning Reflections by Rachel Carrington had me hooked from the beginning, the danger and suspense was electric and reading about its hero and heroine was just as enthralling. Rachel Carrington is an author that knows how to captivate her readers’ with characters that go that extra mile and I know I am part of that crowd. 
~4 1/2 stars from ecataromance.Com

 

He’d found her.

But only after calling in the rest of the outstanding favors owed him by his old friends at the New York Police Department. Funny how they could find someone hundreds of miles away when his repetitive calls to every hospital in Raleigh had yielded him no returns. In the end, it didn’t matter. Evan had located the right hospital. Now, as he strode down the polished halls, the antiseptic smell stinging his nostrils, anger burned deep in his chest.
With plenty of time to think on the airplane, he’d come to two solid conclusions.

He wasn’t leaving Raleigh without his ex-wife, and the psycho who’d hurt her would live to regret it.

From the second he’d heard the news that morning, Evan’s temper had spiraled out of control, but deep down inside, it masked the real problem—paralyzing fear for the woman who’d always held his heart.

When the morning broadcast had played out the horrific details of a hostage situation, Evan had been rooted to the spot, horror clenching his stomach. Morgan had gone through hell and not one damned person had called him. Not her parents, her friends in Raleigh. No one.

In the middle of shaving when the reporter’s words penetrated his caffeine-neglected brain, Evan’s hand had slipped. He touched the nick on his chin as a reminder. His heart had sunk with those words and suddenly, his day had taken a distinctly different turn.
His focus had shifted from his job as the town sheriff, protecting the citizens of Skyler, to protecting Morgan.

Now, he stopped at Room 322 inside Wake Forest Hospital. This was it. He didn’t take the time to wonder why his palms were sweating. He tapped once on the door before he pushed it open. He swallowed hard and came forward, his footsteps soft.

Morgan lay against the stark white sheets. Her eyelids closed, her face pale. He’d never seen her looking so helpless. Wires connected to her from every angle and monitors beeped with annoying persistence.

He took in a deep, steadying breath before he spoke. “Morgan?”
Her lids flickered and her eyes, a haunting green, focused on his face. “Evan?” Her voice sounded as raspy as a dull saw rubbing metal. “What are you doing here?” She tugged the sheet higher up her neck.

He approached her, never taking his eyes off her face. “If you thought I’d stay away, you don’t know me very well.”

“How did you find me? The police said they were keeping my location a secret.”

Evan knew her too well. She was fidgeting, her hands twisting the spotless sheet around her knuckles. “You don’t really need me to answer that, do you?”

Her gaze dropped from his face. “We’re divorced.”

He didn’t need the reminder. “It doesn’t change how I feel.” He stood by the side of the bed. Instincts pushed him to reach for her, but he knew she was swathed in bandages. He wasn’t sure about the extent of the damage, but he recognized the morphine drip next to the side of the bed.

From what the nurse had told him, the entire left side of Morgan’s body had borne the brunt of the bastard’s sickness and, he saw a deep-rooted emotional pain on Morgan’s face that went far deeper than any physical scars.

He hooked his foot around the chair behind him and dragged it forward to sit. “I would have come sooner.”

She wouldn’t look at his face, wouldn’t meet his eyes. Evan felt her anxiety, her fear. It beat at him like a hunger. And when she spoke, her voice was broken, like a child’s discarded toy. “You really shouldn’t be here.”

He edged closer to the bed. “But I am here. I want to help you.” He crammed his hands into his pockets to give them something to do. “Are you in pain?”

“Not much. The medication helps.”

He heard the lie in her voice. “Morgan, I want to help. Tell me what I can do.” He’d never felt so helpless or useless in his life. He hated the weakness, but more than that, he hated seeing Morgan in pain. And knowing there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.

Her eyes lifted and the stark terror he saw swirling within their depths squeezed his heart. “He’s not finished.”

Fury roared its ugly head, creating a need to strike out. Evan surged to his feet. He wanted to shout, to throw the chair through the window, but mostly, he wanted to find the son-of-a-bitch who’d done this. He struggled to rein in his anger and softened his voice, trying to comfort the woman he once called his wife.

“He won’t hurt you again, Morgan.”

She averted her face again and he thought he heard a sob.
“Evan?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Could you please leave?”

Her words stunned him. “What? You expect me to leave you now? Morgan, I can’t. Ask me to do anything but that.”

“I have to ask.” Her voice broke.

“I can protect you.” He’d spent the last fifteen years of his life in law enforcement. She knew that. So why was she pushing him away?

She shook her head almost violently. “No, you can’t. You have to leave. Please.” She sounded almost frantic, desperate to convince him.

“Morgan, what are you saying?” He leaned closer to her, one hand resting next to her shoulder. “What is it you’re not telling me?” His lips brushed her ear.

“Evan, please.”

He closed his eyes, his heart aching. Couldn’t she see how much he needed to help her? He couldn’t walk away from her. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t leave you as a target. You need to come home.” He tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear.

“Raleigh is my home.” Tears coated the words.

Evan bit back a violent curse and straightened. “You can’t stay in Raleigh.” He enunciated the words carefully. “The bastard knows where you live.” He heard her sharp intake of breath and knew he’d caught her attention. He wondered if she’d relent now.

“I don’t want to talk anymore. Evan, I can’t think about this right now. I just… I don’t want you here.”

“Bullshit. Tell me what’s really going on. Why do you want me to leave?”

Tears began to leak down her cheeks. “He’ll hurt you, too.”

That was it. He was going to hunt the asshole down. He still had connections at his old job with the New York Police Department. They could find a seed in a windstorm. He’d find Dexter Canfield.
And he’d kill the son-of-a-bitch himself.

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