Confessions

There're lots of four-wheel-drive vehicles in modern western romance. Heroine Mariah Swan drives her Jeep Grand Cherokee from Malibu to Whiskey River, Arizona, to make a new beginning with her estranged sister, Laura, the wife of a no-account, philandering Senator. Regrettably, before Mariah arrives, someone murders Laura and her unborn baby. Mariah, who's an Emmy-winning TV mystery writer, stays on in Arizona to catch the killer and win Trace Callahan, the sexy but vulnerable sheriff. Trace has a hard time fighting his hormones, and mixing passion with his murder investigation threatens to compromise his squarejawed integrity. As is increasingly common, both lovers have been knocked around by life-a characteristic that provides another obstacle and opportunity for intimacy. Old-hand Ross (Legacy of Lies) follows all the usual trails, sometimes using cliches to indicate thrills and chills instead of delivering the goods. (Jan.)