Alexandra Ross is a successful doctor, happy with her work in the emergency room of a big-city hospital, so when her Mountie husband Cameron abruptly announces that he has asked for and received a transfer out of the drug squad to a desk job in a distant small town, Alex must battle a great deal of fear, hurt, and resentment.
Cam has asked for the transfer because, since he blew the whistle on a superior officer addicted to heroin, he has been shunned by all his fellow officers, and their attitude has broken his heart and endangered his life. Hurt and terribly insecure, Cam simply reacts without explaining any of his reasons to Alex.
Alex decides to sacrifice her job and accompany her husband, thinking that a slower pace might help them recover some of the closeness they've lost. But life in the small town of Korbin Lake is far from ideal, and the two grow farther apart as Cam struggles to learn his new job and Alex faces the prejudices of the area's long-entrenched medical establishment.
There is a happy ending here, as a marriage is resurrected with the support of friends and family, and the changing of some life-long attitudes. But this book is wonderful because it's so realistic; one character thinks that love without communication is not enough, but I would put the message a little differently: certain kinds of love simply can't survive without communication.
This story is further enriched by two "subplot" romances, each powerful in its own right; Alex's brother, Wade, finds love despite the havoc wreaked on his life by a spinal injury, and Cam's brother, David, finds that love is the motivator that is powerful enough to help him grow up and decide what he wants from life.
Recommended.
