Slip Into the Night, Tracie Ingersoll Loy

Slip into the Night is a fresh real story that it worthy of being made into a movie.  Unlike so many of the romances that are out this book contains significant substance.  Instead of two characters that could never exist outside of a fairytale world, the characters are believable and their struggles give the reader a glimpse of a captivating real life love story.  This is so much more then just a romance, containing action, adventure, suspense, and mystery - this will satisfy the most discriminating reader.

This story is set in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, primarily on Hartz Island. The charming seaside community was at one time a bustling city but since the Ferry has been moved to another docking area the town is now quiet and more of a retreat for people looking to get away from it all.  However it’s prime location in relation to major shipping lanes and limited exposure is making it a hot spot for terrorists to gain entrance to the states undetected.  Enter Kip, the owner of a private company hired to fight terrorism on all fronts and coordinate all the various military and law offices to follow the leads and piece together where the national security threats are.  He is the ultimate FBI/CIA special op’s type character and his strong authoritative character reawakens feelings that have long since been suppressed and buried in Jeannie Rogers.  Jeannie is the widow of a local law enforcement officer and the owner of the town’s Café’.  She is hired by a friend to cater the meals for the local lodge that Kip is using for his team’s home base while in the area.  From the moment they meet the sparks begin to fly.  But given Jeannie’s fear of getting involved with another person in law enforcement and Kip’s limited time in town their relationship is tentative regardless of the deep unexplained connection they both have. 

Given Kip’s limited time in town and limited resources he involves Jeannie in some of the investigation into what is going on and when he eventually leaves town the investigation of course continues with them each noticing things from their own perspectives.  This gives the reader a unique opportunity to piece together the full depth of what the characters are up against given all the shady things going on around them.  The terrorist activities are involved and lend an exciting amount of suspense and mystery to the story as they each try to piece together what they know. 

Kip is also fighting is own demons and having already suffered through one wife leaving him because he was always gone due to work he is reluctant to pursue a relationship.  With his job once again pulling him away he is left feeling at a loss over the depth of what he feels for Jeannie.  But fate takes a hand and in the end he has to look hard at what is really important. 

These characters are rich and very believable.  From the first page the reader is drawn in and is anxious to learn what happens next.  The cast is broad and each character more charming then the next.  With Jeannie’s café lending a charming backdrop to get to know the town’s characters intimately, as they each come in to drink her coffee from their own personal cup, the reader is drawn into the heart of the town and is shown just how much they care for each other.  There is great potential for this book to lead to a very exciting series developing each character into their own book.  The investigation unearths many clues but it will take several books before the full extent of what is going on will be resolved which should lead to many more exciting adventures to come.  This one is one of the “keep” bookshelf. 

RATING:  5 chocolate dipped strawberries served with Jeannie’s coffee in my favorite cup!

Many thanks to Tracie Ingersoll Loy for guest blogging with us this weekend and allowing us to review this fabulous book.  We look forward to reading more from her in the future!