The Ranger's Secret [Mass Market Paperback]

i love her books. this was the worst. the hero did not pine for the heroine as she did for him. he was attracted to the other woman. if his friend did not get her, he would have been with her. he found his daughter and made heroine change her life to make his life easier. he never said sorry and never was sorry for what he did. the heroine got what she deserve. she forgave him to easily and she was the first one to say love you even after what the hero did. she should have more pride and self respect. the hero did walk all over her and she let him. she was pathetic.

This is the sequel to "The Chief Ranger" and it was even more engaging. It is helpful to have read the first book in the series, but it isn't necessary in order to figure out what is going on because the author fills you in along the way. The "secret" doesn't stay secret long--in fact, most of it is given away on the back cover. The hero, Chase/Robert, is a typical Winters' hero--strong, sexy, and honorable. That is the type of hero Rebecca Winters does best, and she doesn't disappoint in this book. The heroine, Annie, was a bit annoying when she persisted in blaming Chase for things that had been beyond his control, and I wish she had been a bit more "gutsy" but the romance was sweet and satisfying. This is a "clean" romance that could be read by a young teen, so you can expect some sexual tension between the two main characters but not any graphic descriptions of love-making. The relationship between Chase and his daughter was endearing, and added a lot to the plot. This will go on my "keeper" shelf with many other books by this author.

THE RANGER'S SECRET is the second novel of a two book set, the first book being THE CHIEF RANGER. I recommend reading these books in sequence one right after the other. Many of the main characters carry over from one novel to the next and the story line continues uninterrupted except with different protagonists. I particularly enjoy romance novels that portray honorable, moral protagonists written by authors with great skill in character and plot development and who keep bedroom scenes behind a closed door. How delighted I was to finally find Rebecca Winters. This is another example of Rebecca Winters' considerable talent for writing a great story that leaves you wanting more. Her skill at story telling, character creation, and plot development has placed her at the top of my list of most sought after authors.

The protagonists in THE RANGER'S SECRET are Chase Jarvis and Margaret Anne (Annie) Brower. Chase was first introduced as a larger-than-life character in THE CHIEF RANGER. In this book we learn the history of Chase Jarvis is much different than what everyone thought. In fact, Chase Jarvis is not his real name. He is actually Dr. Robert Myers, a prominent archeologist and CIA operative who discovered Al-Qaeda secrets and was the target of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan some ten years before. Just hours before the attack, he had become engaged to our heroine, Annie, a fellow, non-CIA archeologist. Annie believes Robert was killed in the attack and soon discovers she is to bear his child. Miraculously, he survives and spends a year recovering; however, Al-Qaeda is informed of his survival by a double agent. Robert can not make contact with Annie without putting her life in danger. The CIA places him in the Witness Protection Program where he becomes Chase Jarvis, Assistant Head Ranger at Yosemite National Park.

Annie has done a marvelous job raising her now ten-year-old daughter, Roberta, as a single-parent mom. As our story opens, Annie has been offered a dream job as an archeologist at Yosemite National Park and is being given an aerial orientation to Yosemite when a mechanical malfunction causes the helicopter to crash. Of course, Chase is one of the first on the scene and finds the woman he loved so dearly ten years before. Annie first recognizes his voice and then sees his face. She calls to him but is rushed to a helicopter waiting to take her to the hospital before he can respond.

One of the things that I so appreciate about Ms. Winters' writing is that, even with such a complicated situation as has here been created, everything is totally believable and logical. There are now many issues that now need to be resolved. Issues of trust, security, relationships, restitution, deception, and love almost seem insurmountable. The path Ms. Winters takes is enchanting, believable, heartwarming, and fascinating. If you are looking for X-Rated reading you can keep looking, but if you appreciate romance at its best you just found a five star read.

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