Lori Lynn Champion has spent 1 1/2 years in prison, getting out early on her 20 year term. She was framed for embezzlement, but it's hard to see how. What bank would put a 21-year-old CPA in a position where walking off with two million dollars would be remotely possible? She read the Wall Street Journal in prison and now makes a living day trading stocks on the internet. No mention is made of where she got the money to invest.

She also knits and crochets. A craft store sold fifteen of her pieces for $100 each. Supplies ran about $20 apiece. She made a profit of $1,200 in a weekend, overlooking the fact that she spent a year making the afghans. Yeah, this girl is a financial wizard, all right. The craft store owner's not too sharp either, she doesn't even take a cut.

Financial machinations seem to pay a big role here, but there seems to be no real grasp of how finance works.

The stalker attacks Lori twice in front of witnesses, but she doesn't call the police. The stalker then kind of disappears from the story.

Salvatori Rino Tarentino is her love interest. He's a lawyer and resort owner in the rural Ozark town where Lori tries to hide.

We meet Tom Sanders, Lori's parole officer, but his role is negligible. Both Lori and Sal reflect endlessly on their life choices. The author's style is florid and wordy. There's too much introspection and too little action and logic here. Yes, Lori gets revenge on the guy who framed her, but I found it hard to care. Too many things make too little sense. Neither the suspense nor the romance was especially compelling.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Lynn Bushey
March 9, 2009