Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

Young mother Char Simmons knows fear; her ex-husband, the attorney Theodore Bainbridge, has vanished, leaving her with total responsibility for their daughter, Abby, who's recovering from brain surgery. After selling most of her possessions, Char takes Abby to the remote Silver Lake, Minn. cabin she's inherited from her aunt. A scare with their Pomeranian, Cinnamon, leads the mother to local vet, Dr. Philip Wilson, whose recently deceased parents owned the neighboring vacation home. Philip, along with his brother Max, a federal agent on leave, hire Char to help clear out their family's cabin and an attraction develops. But Max has a hidden agenda; he's hoping to catch Char's slippery ex, who is suspected of embezzling from his clients. Tightly mixing romance and thriller elements, Jacobs (Love By Design) excels mostly when depicting the bond shared by mother and daughter and the lengths to which Char will go to protect it. (Aug.)