Courageous Love

Richardson (New Beginnings) combines sweet and heat in her second contemporary romance. ER nurse Alex Taylor meets Sgt. Francesca “Frank” Greco when Frank pulls her over for speeding in their Southern California town. That’s hardly the most auspicious encounter, but after they meet again at a mutual friend’s home (and Frank later ends up in Alex’s ER), passion quickly takes over. For a short time, their romance feels like a sexy fantasy, too good to be true. When Alex is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness—the same one that took the life of Frank’s twin sister—she starts to push Frank away, but Frank intends to prove to Alex that she’ll stay around in sickness or in health. Richardson aptly captures the myriad emotions and sometimes irrational thought processes of a young woman with a possibly fatal disease, as well as the torment inherent in the idea of losing another loved one to the same illness. This sensitively told and realistically plotted story will grab readers by the heartstrings and not let them go. (Dec.)