Personal lives take equal billing with racing in this engaging NASCAR story, where a driver and a reporter discover what is most important in life. Maggie Price has written a moving novella for the Harlequin NASCAR continuity series, and every aspect comes across as convincingly realistic and totally entertaining.

Although Rafael O’Bryan has won a major race with his new team, much of his season has been up and down. To help fans know him better, his sponsor wants him to talk more with the media and has even agreed to let a magazine reporter follow him closely for several weeks. Rafael understands the reasoning behind the request to let fans get an in-depth look into what has made him a successful race driver plus his life off the track, but he has critical reasons for keeping some facts about his past out of print.

When Caitlin Dempsey unexpectedly receives the assignment to interview a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, she is not familiar with the sport or the man. Determined to do her best and make this lengthy interview attention-grabbing by writing the truth about the whole life of her subject, she quickly realizes getting facts from the elusive driver is going to be extremely difficult as he is equally unwavering when it comes to keeping much about himself unsaid. When the feelings of Rafael and Caitlin begin to be profoundly affected by being around the other, the line between their professional careers and private lives starts to waver.

Maggie Price is a premier writer of emotional realism. Her stories always tell about the lives of individuals in a believable manner, as feelings seem genuine and reactions are credible. Regardless of what fuels an emotional response, everything seems to occur with lifelike accuracy. From the very start of “CORNERED”, the reader could sense that underlying reasons are causing Rafael and Caitlin to respond as they do. However, Ms. Price ups the anticipation of each scene as the explanations about their motives are revealed just a little at a time. As insight into their past becomes known, I not only connected with them on every level but truly came to care about their futures, too. I also stayed emotional involved while watching these two repeatedly dance around each other, as they tried to ignore the sexual heat simmering between them. When Rafael and Caitlin give in slightly to the temptation and explore their yearning for the other, these moments are smoldering with fire yet expressed with tenderness. The conversations between this couple are engrossing, as genuinely honest replies are given time and again. The reader will be drawn into the world of NASCAR as the environment is portrayed with correct terminology and compelling characters, plus any settings are precisely crafted. “CORNERED” vividly constructs a story about racing along with an emotional romance and keeps readers thoroughly captivated.

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