Review: Anything But Mine

Anything But Mine
Linda Winfree
Romantic Suspense
Hearts of the South/Book 4
Samhain/March 11, 2008

Will her need to do the right thing cost them everything?

Public Defender Autry Holton, honor-bound to defend an accused serial killer, is in a "shunned if she does, disbarred if she doesn't". To complicate matters, she's pregnant and hasn't yet told her ex-lover he's the father. The reason? She's pretty sure he won't want the baby.

After raising one family and suffering a failed marriage, Sheriff Stanton Reed never believed he was the right man for Autry. Then an attempted break-in at Autry's home highlights the real danger she faces, and all he can think of is protecting her. When she tells him the truth about their baby, the past doesn't matter. He wants both her and their child in his life.

But just as Autry dares to hope there's a future for them, an act of homegrown terrorism shatters her trust-and threatens their lives.

The fourth book in the addictive Hearts of the South series features defense attorney Autry Holton and Sheriff Stanton Reed who broke off their previous relationship months ago. Now Autry is being threaten and Stanton tries to keep her safe while keeping their relationship strictly professional. And we all know how well that works!

Autry tries to please everyone, she's always been like that. It's why she became an attorney. To please her father the judge. But now she's doing what she feels like she has to do and it pleases no one, not even Autry. She is defending a cop accused of murder in this small Georgia community and most residents are not happy about the fact. Autry feels like she has no choice and she will loose her job if she refuses the case. I didn't always understand Autry's actions, like why she didn't tell Stanton about the baby and the threats before the attempted break-in. She is gutsy but makes some mistakes that surprised me for what is otherwise an intelligent woman.

Stanton Reed is in the midst of taking a corrupt sheriff's department and turning it into one that the residents can trust. So when one of their own is arrested for multiple murders, Stanton must work extra hard to build the trust with the community. I liked Stanton but he could certainly be a hardhead! He supposedly broke it off with Autry because of their conflicting careers. He arrests the criminals and she defends them. The problem was that she was a public defender when they started seeing each other and Stanton was the sheriff. So, reality is, he got scared and lied to get out of the relationship. Not cool.

The suspense plot of the threats to Autry and her ongoing case involving the accused cop created enough tension to keep me interesting but it wasn't as focused as I had hoped it would be. There was almost too much going on outside of Autry and Stanton's relationship to allow enough time for them to not only reconcile but for that reconciliation to be believable.

While this isn't my favorite of the series it's still has some wonderful and heartbreaking moments. And there is the "Tick wisdom" as I like to think of it. Tick was the hero in the previous book and he's here again to impart his wisdom and humor to anyone who will listen.

Rating: C+

Hearts of the South

Truth and Consequences
His Ordinary Life
Hold On to Me
Anything But Mine
Memories of Us
Hearts Awakened
Fall Into Me
Facing It
Uncovered