Dawson King is willing to do anything, including going to prison for five months, to take down Iceman, a drug dealer with cartel ties who tricked him into slaying a rival. King's jail time as an undercover DEA agent earned him the nickname Flash and the credentials to covertly apply as an ex-con for a job at a coffee shop run by Iceman's daughter, Cara Potter. Cara, seemingly tough, claiming to hate drugs and what her father does, employs a former prostitute, a vivacious flirt who is her best friend, and a teenage boy whose father is part of her father's gang. With serious trust issues, Flash and Cara fight their attraction to each other. She can't abide a liar, and he can't tell her the truth. Whenever Cara has trusted anyone, they have betrayed her. Along with all the drug-related drama, a domestic terrorist and new betrayals may derail the steamy connection between Flash and Cara as well as blow up the rural Montana community. Fans of Ryan's Montana Heat series will enjoy the cameos of Trigger and Ashley from Escape to You (2017).--Herald, Diana Tixier Copyright 2018 Booklist

An undercover DEA special agent finds his match in the brave, law-abiding daughter of a powerful drug dealer in Ryan's high-octane second contemporary set in Montana (after Escape to You). Cara Potter has spent her life trying to navigate around her father's illicit career and build her own life. When Dawson King, aka Chris "Flash" Hickman, goes to work for her, his plan is to uncover proof about her father's dealings and her presumed involvement. He doesn't expect to fall for the beautiful, brave diner owner who offers jobs and second chances to people recently released from prison. Cara suspects there are hidden depths to the intelligent, hard-working, sensitive Flash. He doesn't act like any ex-con she knows, and, when he makes it his mission to protect her, she finds his tenderness to be as irresistible as his handsomeness. They find love and solace in each other's arms, but Dawson knows it's only a matter of time before the truth of his identity is revealed. Cara and her father have a complex, affectionate relationship that will engage the reader's sympathies, and the story is action-packed with a surprise ending, setting a high bar for the next in the series. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Distancing herself as best she can from her drug kingpin father, Crossroads Coffee Shop owner Cara Potter wants nothing more than to make a good life for herself and help those she can-ex-cons, in particular. But Cara is nobody's fool, and when undercover DEA Agent Dawson King (aka "Flash"), fresh out of prison on parole, asks for a job, her questioning nature goes into overdrive. While she agrees to hire him, she's determined to remain on guard. Flash is on a mission to bring down Cara's father, and he can't afford to let anything get in the way, especially the attraction that's been simmering between them. VERDICT Honesty and trust issues loom large in this emotionally taut story that features an assortment of nuanced characters and also delivers a heartwarming romance. Ryan (Montana Heat: Escape to You) lives in the San Francisco Bay area. [Previewed in Joyce Sparrow's "Love Is All Around," LJ 10/15/17.] © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.