ARC Review: Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson

Dangerous Waters Author: Toni Anderson Publication: Montlake Romance (November 20, 2012)
Description: Known as the Graveyard of the Pacific, Barkley Sound is notorious for surging swells with the power to pull helpless victims into its merciless abyss…

Sergeant Holly Rudd arrives in the coastal community of Bamfield after local divers discover a body with a knife jutting from its chest in the waters of Barkley Sound. As she investigates the crime, Holly soon realizes the sleepy town is rife with secrets. But what unsettles her most is the residents’ insistence that she bears a striking resemblance to the victim of a murder from three decades earlier. She shrugs off the uncanny likeness as a coincidence. But her simmering attraction to Finn Carver, one of the divers who discovered the corpse, isn’t so easy to ignore.

Finn, a former Special Forces soldier, knows it’s best to keep his distance from Holly. Yet it isn’t long before they both give in to the consuming desire they share. And as the danger escalates, Finn and Holly must rely on each other to thwart the plans of a cold-blooded killer who’s intent on keeping the past buried.

My Thoughts: This was a romantic suspense title that nicely balanced both the romance and the suspense. The story starts with a murder of a 24-year-old woman and her six week old son. Her two year old daughter disappeared at the same time. Than thirty years pass.
The woman's husband is Dr. Thom Edgefield. He has never let the unsolved case rest. He has devoted his life to harassing the police to keep working on the murder. Along the way he has reported any suspicious behavior to the police which has not endeared him to the criminals who want to use the small isolated town as a base for smuggling and distributing counterfeit money.  It is a town filled with secrets.
When the body of a local low-life is found stabbed to death in an unknown shipwreck, the police are called in again. Thom and his foster son Finn Carver discover the body. Sergeant Holly Rudd of the RCMP is the investigating officer who is called in. Thom takes one look at her and faints. She is the image of his dead wife.
Holly quickly gets involved in trying to sort out the secrets of the town and, although she is incredibly drawn to Finn, she is determined not to get involved with someone who could be a suspect in the crime she is investigating. She already made the mistake of sleeping with a fellow officer (who is now her superior in this case) without knowing that he was married. She is afraid another indiscretion will ruin her police career.
Adding to the cast of characters is Finn's brother Brent who has recently got out of prison for killing their father. He did it to protect Finn who was being beaten by the man. But Brent spent twenty years in prison and is determined to keep Finn out of his life. He has become a bitter recluse who lives in a very expensive home although no one knows where his money comes from.
Honestly, the story isn't as complicated as I might be making it seem. It was a well-crafted mystery filled with interesting characters. The romance was well-done as both Finn and Holly fight their attraction to each other. Finn doesn't feel that he has much to offer Holly. But love overcomes all sorts of obstacles.
Fans of romantic suspense will really enjoy this story. I immediately went to Amazon and bought three more of her romantic suspense titles for my Kindle.
Favorite Quote:

Her eyes flared, and for a moment he saw the same hunger that ate at him, burning away her resolve. Then she looked away, clenching her fists. "You and I can never happen..."
"I don't want it to happen either, but I'm damned if I can stop thinking about getting you naked." He pressed his lips tight together to prevent himself from revealing more. He turned his back on her and stared at the seemingly endless ocean.
He felt her behind him. Her hand tentative on his arm. Forehead heavy against his back. "Sleeping with you would destroy my career." There was a long pause until finally she whispered, "But I can't stop thinking about it either."

I received this ARC from the Amazon Vine Program. You can buy your copy here.