Law Man

Ashley’s third Dream Man novel (after Wild Man) brings romantic angst to a fever pitch as an insecure woman meets the man of her dreams. Mara Hanover, a shy sales clerk at a mattress store in Denver, can’t believe her good fortune when her neighbor, Det. Mitch Lawson, takes an interest in her. Torn between her shame at growing up in a less-than-respectable family and her hope that Mitch really cares for her, Mara must decide whether she has truly risen above her past. Her halting, anxious, first-person narrative offers moments of humor as she takes guardianship of her cousin’s children—cynical nine-year-old Billy and terrified six-year-old Billie—and starts a ready-made family with Mitch. When the children aren’t around, the ever-present romantic tension between Mitch and Mara culminates in a number of very spicy sex scenes. A thread of mystery helps this fast-paced novel effectively deliver both romance and suspense, despite its length. (Dec.)