White hot

First of all, thanks to Sandra Brown who sent me this nice book through the Goodreads giveaway. :)

Ten years ago Sayre Lynch escaped Destiny, her small Louisiana hometown. She was determined not to come back at any cost, even refusing to receive calls from her family. But when her brother Danny died, Sayre has to return to Destiny to attend his funeral. She planned to leave right after the funeral ends, but things are more complicated that she thought it would be.

When investigators hint that Danny might have been murdered, Sayre extends her stay to find out how her brother died. She has to face her tyrannical father, Huff Hoyle, along with her equally devious brother, Chris. The existence of their brilliant and canny attorney, Beck Merchant, complicates her effort in finding out the truth.

Despite her ill opinion on Beck, Sayre finds herself strangely drawn to him. Their loyalties is on the different sides, weaving a complicated love/hate relationship between them. The more she wants him, the more she realize that Beck would do practically anything to cover for her family.

Sayre doesn't know that when she set foot in her father's steel mill, she will soon discover a complex strings of events that eventually lead her to the past. Hatred, revenge and crimes buried a long time ago are about to resurface...

I especially love the characters and how they got developed throughout the story. Sayre is a fantastic heroine who can stand on her own feet, and her chemistry with Beck is really interesting. Huff is the perfect tyrannical father with a painful past, which explains why he became who he is now. Minor characters have clear personalities and didn't easily blend into the background. Oh, and Frito is really adorable!

The plot is full with intriguing twists and turns, though some of them are predictable. Love the plot twist at the end of the story though, which really caught me off guard. While it's a little slow in solving Danny's murder, overall it has a nicely built plot. The ending is tragic, but is ironically perfect.

This is a really good and fun read, filled with a great deal of suspense and drama. I should read more of Sandra Brown's books when I have the time and resource. :)